What is you least expensive trip to WDW ?

[tcherjen]

We go often:
Food if doing counter service- I think you could get away with sharing some meals.
I also think you are going to want some down days there. If we stay a week, we don't do theme parks every day. You could get a smaller number of day tickets to save money.

We have passes, so I am unsure of how the tickets work though.
I understand wanting to be near the buses and food, but with buses every 15-20 minutes I wouldn't pay more. You can also watch for general public discounts too. Is this trip next May?

 

[Marionnette]

We like staying on site for 10 nights
We are 4 adults, DH, DW, DS, DD
May 1 to May 10

Food = breakfast in the room, $80 per person per day = $3200
Tickets = 10 day adult basic = $1492
Airfare = JetBlue = non-refundable tickets = $1200
Pop Century Preferred room = $1694
(we want to be close to the bus stop and food area)

Our total WDW no-frills BUT still magical vacation = $7586

How can we bring down the price?

Food - cut back to $50 pp/day, saving $120/day. That's $1200 right off the top. You can still manage to eat well on that amount of money.
Tickets - save ~$40 pp by cutting back to 7-day MYW adult base tickets. Use the 3 "off" days to explore your resort or visiting DtD. Total savings = ~$160. You can always upgrade those passes if you feel that you want another day or two.
Aifare - is driving a possibility? Or do you have any CC rewards that can be used to some of the airfare costs?
POP preferred room - get a standard room or stay offsite.

 

[IndianaRRT]

In 2010, we went for 6 nights at POP for just at $2000. We drove, used gifted gas cards, used hotel points (ours and some were gifted) for the nights on the road, scored a very nice PIN discount on our resort, and were very careful about our food. I don't have the exact breakdown with me right now, but we took pop tarts, oatmeal, snacks, bottled water, sandwich fixins, etc. to eat in our room. We booked one character meal and ate out once a day (a mix of QS and TS). Everyone got one "purchased" souvenir. It was budget all the way, but we had a lovely time!

 

[hsmamato2]

We like staying on site for 10 nights
We are 4 adults, DH, DW, DS, DD
May 1 to May 10

Food = breakfast in the room, $80 per person per day = $3200
Tickets = 10 day adult basic = $1492
Airfare = JetBlue = non-refundable tickets = $1200
Pop Century Preferred room = $1694
(we want to be close to the bus stop and food area)

Our total WDW no-frills BUT still magical vacation = $7586

How can we bring down the price?

I disagree with pp's...I don't think 10 days in a Pop room is torture.... But my personal preference at Pop is the back area near the lake,much much prettier back there.... OP I'd get a regular room, possibly try to book with a R/O discount or Orbitz or something with a code- cut the tickets down to 7 or 8 days tops and relax some of the time.... Eat mostly QS and pay about 10 bucks per meal per person (drink ice water,not soda) since you said 'no frills'.....My family of 3 "adults" averages around 90-110 per day TOTAL. (we eat cereal etc in our room) mostly (wonderful) QS,with a couple of TS meals over the trip for fun.... But I also highly value a nice day by the pool,with a nice drink and just hanging out too.... I dislike the parks every day sort of traveling.....

 

[DreamIsaWish]

Cheapest? About 6 years ago we went for 7 days in February for $1500, including airfare, tickets, about half of the food. Two adults and one kid. On-site at Pop. It was when they did "buy 4 get three free" on the room and tickets. And the week we chose also qualified for a $200 gift card which we used for meals (did still have to pay for some meals, but meals were only maybe $50 a day so the $200 went a long way). How I wish they still did those deals.

Now I know that deal specifically won't come around again. But the keys to well-priced trips remain the same. Choose your dates around the deals. Bring breakfast and snacks in your luggage. Watch your meal costs -- share meals, research the menus in advance to find the best value, always get ice water.

 

[Judique]

For that kind of time and money, I'd do a split stay. Maybe 4 nights at Disney and the rest off site somewhere with a rental car.

You could probably upgrade your room, maybe with a room discount. And blow it out with food and parks while you are on Disney.

Later on relax in a spacious off site rental. Do some Disney and some water parks or other area entertainment. Bring in some meals, cook some meals. Have you checked out rental houses with pools?

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Cheapest? About 6 years ago we went for 7 days in February for $1500, including airfare, tickets, about half of the food. Two adults and one kid. On-site at Pop. It was when they did "buy 4 get three free" on the room and tickets. And the week we chose also qualified for a $200 gift card which we used for meals (did still have to pay for some meals, but meals were only maybe $50 a day so the $200 went a long way). How I wish they still did those deals.

Now I know that deal specifically won't come around again. But the keys to well-priced trips remain the same. Choose your dates around the deals. Bring breakfast and snacks in your luggage. Watch your meal costs -- share meals, research the menus in advance to find the best value, always get ice water.

We did this too in 2009.

We stayed at CBR, 8 nights, 7 day hoppers and ddp. Package was $2800 for 2 adults and 2 kids.

We drove from NJ so maybe $250 in gas and one hotel stay. We drove straight through going home.

Our room charges with one meal OOP minus the $200 gift card was around $650.

So around $3700 total.

 

[Ryoukoe]

Are you flexible on the time that you go? Late August/early September is a good time to go price wise. Disney offers up to 30% off each night stay or you can get a free dining plan. Also if you have seen in other posts in the forum you can use the target gift card with red card to pay for your stay and save an extra 5% off the total cost of your trip or more, including food by purchasing Disney Gift Cards. On top of that, have you thought about purchasing a 4 day park ticket and opting to add the parks and more package? This gives you an additional 4 days of entry into the water parks and Disney Quest. Are you driving or flying? Southwest always offers really good deals on their flights but you have to do a search on their actual website and not use Expedia.com or travelocity.com.

 

[rdevine10]

We are doing 5 nights at Caribbean beach and 2 day hoppers with water parks and more for August. Hotel is 730, tickets were 1045 with work discount if 12%. Subtract 600 in disney rewards and no cost for transpiration (as we are already in the ares visiting family regardless) is 1185 plus a budget of 500 for food is 1685 for 3 adults and 1 child. This is my kids 10 or 11th trip there. 2 days is more than enough for our favorite rides- plus waterparks are great in the summer! This will be our 3rd vacation of the year- no need to go crazy!

 

[dimimi]

I would figure $50 per person a day with food, eating breakfast in the room and bringing some snacks and your own water. I would not get the 10 day pass. We usually do the parks every other day from rope drop to close. That keeps it relaxing for our family.

 

[worm761]

I agree with the others that your food budget is high unless you have a lot of table service restaurants in your trip. I just did the math for our upcoming trip. I have reservations for Tusker House breakfast, 50's Prime Time dinner, Via Napoli dinner, and food and wine for DH and I, counter service lunches. We will bring breakfast with us. We'll have a picnic lunch on the drive down but buy dinner at Disney. So all food for our 9 night stay plus travel food I've budgeted what works out to be $43 per person per day. It is DH, DD5, and me. I think $50 a day is a good number.

As for everyone saying drop days on your 10 day pass, I wouldn't. I like to be in the parks every day of my vacation. I actually have non park days planned this trip and I am not sure if I will actually end up standing by that. We'll see.

 

[hsmamato2]

Lots of good ideas in this thread too
http://www.disboards.com/threads/ho...ing-to-cost-you.3334237/page-23#post-53727591

 

[pjlla]

It was in 2002 so obviously current ticket prices and such are a big change... but it was also during the post 9/11 travel slowdown. Airfare was virtually free since DH had 3.5 of the 4 roundtrip tickets we needed through the AirTran frequent flyer program. We stayed off-site (really wanted a suite because the kiddos were small and went to bed early). We stayed at a Homewood Suites in Kissimee (not there any more) that offered free breakfast (and not just powdered donuts and juice!) and a free "manager's reception" with cocktails in the afternoon. We paid $49.99/night for about a 7 day trip (with 5 day ParkHoppers). We rented a car midsize car for about $200. We ate breakfast at the hotel every morning EXCEPT for the day we had breakfast at Cinderella Castle. We ate quick service counter meals for lunch plus I had shipped down a bunch of snacks (DS had some significant food allergies at the time so it was easier AND cheaper to have our own stuff along) that we carried into the parks every day. Dinner was occasionally a quick service in the parks but several evenings (since the parks closed as early as 6pm or 7pm) we bought Subway and the like and ate it in the room or even managed to have the "manager's reception" for dinner on our non-Disney park days. And a few nights the kids were so tired we just had bagels and peanut butter and apples for dinner in the room. (Disney isn't all about the food for us even now that the kids are grown so this doesn't bother us at all.)

Anyhow.... I'm going to say that we paid when all was said and done probably under $2000 - 2500 for that trip (2 adults 2 kids, 5 days in the parks, one free day at DTD and resort hopping, and one day at SeaWorld). That being said, my most recent 4 day long weekend trip with DD probably cost me at least $1500, even doing it on a budget! .............P

 

[angierae]

I just priced out a trip for DD and I and even with 1TS and 1CS per day plus one snack each, we're looking at about a $50/pp per day budget. It might help to look at where you want to eat and throw your likely food selections into a spreadsheet.

 

[mom to minnie&mickey]

We are a family of 4 Disney adults going this July for 10 nights, here is our breakdown.

Driving from Canada with one night hotel each way/gas--$500 (overestimated)
Pop Century Standard Room with stacked discount from Orbitz--$1200
6 Day Base Tickets from Undercover Tourist-$1340
Food--Quick Service and offsite, breakfast/snacks in room $1500
2 Table Service meals $200
Extras--Tips, small souvenirs $200
Total--$4940

I do not consider this a budget trip as we are doing everything we want to do. We have one full day planned for factory outlet shopping and another day for Clearwater Beach.
We also have 2 pool days/DTD. When we do the parks we do them from early morning to closing. We love having some down time days to sleep in and relax by the pool.

This is the fourth time we are staying at Pop and in no way did we ever find it tight with 4 people. We love the resort and always request a room further from the pools. Facing the lake it is quiet and peaceful and we have never had any need to spend more $$ to stay moderate/deluxe.

 

[lbmiller77]

We have a trip coming up in October for 14 days. It will just be my three year old and I.

Driving from Wisconsin with a hotel stay each way and gas: $450
Stopping at Dinosaur World, Cave City, Kentucky, on the way down: $30
Stopping at Lookout Mountain, Tennesee to do the incline railway on the way back home: $40
We are tenting it at Fort Wilderness for 13 nights and the last night we will be staying at a hotel: $950
5 day Disney park tickets, 1 day Seaworld tickets, 1 day at Gatorland (Son is free), and 1 day Legoland tickets (Buy 1, get 1):$870
We will be eating a lot of our meals at the campsite, only 1 meal a day at the parks, and two ADRs: $500
Souvenirs: $400

Total for 14 days: $3240

This is definitely a budget trip when it comes to food, souvenirs and resort/hotel. However, I don't think that will be a problem since my son is a picky eater and loves camping. On our down days, we are just going to take advantage of the resort pool and other activities.

 

[njpyro]

Contrary to what many people are saying, I would not drop down the 10 day ticket. For an extra $10 a day, you can go into the parks just for fireworks, a show, a meal or just to walk down main street. Food will cost much less for normal eaters. I don't mean that in an offensive way. I have relatives who would easily spend $80pp a day on food, but they go by the motto of "live to eat, not eat to live".

 

[andiraye]

I'd consider staying off prop, perhaps in a two bedroom villa with a kitchen. As four adults, proximity to the parks for a midday break won't matter as much as if you had little kids. You'll get MUCH nicer accommodations and with a kitchen you can cook some meals, bring some healthy snacks to the parks and have better breakfasts.

We are six people (4 adults, 2 kids) going for six days/six nights and our budget all in with airfare is about $5k. Two plane tickets were bought on miles. We are staying at Wyndham Bonnet Creek for $142 per night including fees, renting a van for $309 (you can do better with a regular car), eating mostly at QS or cooking, but we will eat at Chef Mickeys. We are only doing 3 parks days, which I understand is not enough for most but my parents can't handle more than that. If we increased our park days we'd be up to about $5500-$6k. But that's for six people!

 

[mondragon]

We are Florida AP holders so don't need to worry about tickets. Went last March. Won a 4 day 3 night stay to the Hard Rock in universal plus tickets and food (was given visa gift card for $250). We drive so $120 in gas. Had no interest in going to universal so sold our tickets to someone at hotel who was also from Florida for $200 (3-day tickets). Spent about $500 in food total for the 3 days. Some misc. expenses and total was about $300.

 

[Lotziix]

We stay in lake buena vista resort village and spa , that seems to be a good price it has a kitchen so we shop at Walmart for breakfast and lunch ( take that in to parks ) then either eat dinner there or out at restaurants , saves a lot of money on food having your own kitchen