Whats the cheapest you have ever done Disney?

[bbak3030]

We have been back for 3 weeks and I'm seriously depressed! All I think about is getting back to Disney. I even deleted the MDE app off my phone cause it was making me sad.

So the only obvious thing to do is find a way to get back! It would be a little easier if we weren't already committed to a trip to Gatlinburg with my family for Thanksgiving. I'm thinking next October would be the soonest we can make it work and that's 18 months!

So what's the cheapest you have ever done Disney? I suppose staying off site would be a no-brainer, but we hate to give up EMH. MK til 1am was our favorite part about our last trip.

Any tips/ideas appreciated!

 

[krazy4crusing]

We have been back for 3 weeks and I'm seriously depressed! All I think about is getting back to Disney. I even deleted the MDE app off my phone cause it was making me sad.

So the only obvious thing to do is find a way to get back! It would be a little easier if we weren't already committed to a trip to Gatlinburg with my family for Thanksgiving. I'm thinking next October would be the soonest we can make it work and that's 18 months!

So what's the cheapest you have ever done Disney? I suppose staying off site would be a no-brainer, but we hate to give up EMH. MK til 1am was our favorite part about our last trip.

Any tips/ideas appreciated!

I understand your depression. Just book another trip and it will help ease your pain.
We (1 adult, 2 kids under 9) went to Disney for 5 days Mon-Fri with flights, Value Resort, QSDP, 2 day park pass with waterpark and more (No hopper) and it was $2300 inclusive. I felt that was a fantastic deal!!!!

We are going back this summer and our plan this time is to pay for each item over several months ie Feb: flights, Mar; Resort, April: add dining plan, May, add tickets,etc... this way the cost is spread out over time. This works for us.

Have fun planning, its the best way to kick the DD to the curb!

 

[tvguy]

Ha. Recently? Or Historically? When I was in college 4 buddies and I went twice for 3 days for $100 each. This was 1975 at Disneyland.

Deluxe 15 ticket book cost $7 a day for a total of $21 each.

Camped out at the KOA for $8 a night, so $2, a grand total of $6 each.

50 gallons of gasoline at 60 cents a gallon for a Pinto that got 20 mpg for a total of $30 or $7.50 each.

Rest was meals and stuff be bought to bring home.

We were all working minimum wage jobs then, $2, or about $80 a week.

So that was about a week and a half's pay for 3 days in Disneyland.

 

[soar2014]

When we went in 1978 POLY went for $100 dollars a night! OMG that was high for the times.

 

[writermommy6]

We did a week with four days at the parks. Two adults an four kids under the age of 10 for $3000. We stayed offsite in a condo and ate a lot of meals in the room. Think we did two character meals but the rest was in the room or at chain restaurants outside the park. Of course this was 2009 so ticket prices were different.

 

[shell8558]

We have been back for 3 weeks and I'm seriously depressed! All I think about is getting back to Disney. I even deleted the MDE app off my phone cause it was making me sad. So the only obvious thing to do is find a way to get back! It would be a little easier if we weren't already committed to a trip to Gatlinburg with my family for Thanksgiving. I'm thinking next October would be the soonest we can make it work and that's 18 months! So what's the cheapest you have ever done Disney? I suppose staying off site would be a no-brainer, but we hate to give up EMH. MK til 1am was our favorite part about our last trip. Any tips/ideas appreciated!

I feel your pain- we have been back barely 2 weeks and I'm pretty depressed myself. I think the cheapest we have done disney was last year using a free dining pin in a value resort - during value season . I recall it was somewhere around 1700.00 for 6 nights for 4 disney adults and we drove. Although I don't see this happening again- because it was during Mardi gras and that changes every year. ( I have to admit I am a little jealous of my son- he gets to return the end of June to attend a national student council conference with members of his school and they will be spending 2 days at disney)

 

[Stitch35]

I was just pricing out a 3 day last minute trip to DL during spring break. It would run at minimum 1300 that's flight, hotel, and military tickets. Cheapest I've done was 1100 for 5 days at DL for 1 adult and 2 children, but that was a couple years ago.

 

[Marionnette]

$529.59 for one adult, 4 days. Half of that was the cost of accommodations and ticket costs. It wasn't a bare-bones budget trip, but I did try to keep costs down. See my post Tallying Up the Cost of My 4-day Trip . I just got back on Friday.

 

[mieuxmew]

We are Marriott Vacation Club owners and Annual Pass holders.

We have used our APs for 2 trips already and have a trip in May and Oct planned.
APs were $650 each. Bought tickets from Orbitz, upgraded and used Disney Gift Cards from Target. Saved about $90 per AP. Since we used our passes twice already, I am considering the next two trips on our APs as free.

I deposited the studio part of our MVC. Exchanged for a 2 bedroom/2 bath at one of the best Marriott's in Orlando (Lakeshore Reserve). Exchange fees/lockoff fee was $320 for our 7 nights. We got a "bonus week" which we are using for our October trip for a 2 bedroom Marriott for $360 (7 nights at Grande Vista).

4 round trip tickets/seats/$9 fare club on Spirit from Atlantic City $552. Plan to spend another $85 for 2 bags and $72 for parking.

Rental car so far is $188.

Food expenses to be determined. We eat breakfast everyday in the room and a few other meals too. We are not big foodies. Cost will be something reasonable.

We have annual passes for Busch Gardens Williamsburg which includes Sea World, Aquatica, and Busch Gardens Tampa.

Total expenses for 4 people (flights/hotel/parking/rental car/tickets) $1030.
(food not included).

Our trip in October is very similar. We has some flight credits/frequent flyer miles and got 4 tickets for $675, but includes bags. Total for that trip will be about $78 more.

Once our APs expire we will probably take a year off from Disney.

 

[hsmamato2]

hmmm... there are lots of ways to save, but the tough part is park tickets. You just can't get away from those prices,and they are killer now.
It is kind of a bummer, I feel like it's just edging too high,and I'm a dis-fanatic......
My fave deal was a couple of years ago, I combined cc rewards and used wisely- stayed 2 nites at Universal onsite (nice) did 2 days there- then stayed onsite 8 nites at Disney- got FD for the 4 of us- stayed Mod (POFQ loved it) flew down- along with 6 day park tix at Disney- total OOP for that trip for 4 people, 10 days of fun was 2400.00
That said, over the past 25 years some with kids,some before kids.... we have stayed offsite (hated) shared DVC suites with family(much better) planned 9 months ahead and scored great deals like Free Dining, altering our choices to fit a budget- (one trip, we stayed DVC, 10 nights- went into a park on 4 days, the rest of our trip, we had 'free' fun...pools, shopping, boat rides,hanging out,it was different,but fun)
I usually save $$$ by cutting food costs, we share a lot,using a variety of credit card rewards and points to pay for parts of the trip(SWA card,etc.) I have NEVER seen a straight from Disney deal that can beat my own 'put together' deals.....we've done the homeschool classes and tickets in the past- heck one year we made baby blankets for a free days admission...
I would say planning ahead is your best saving tool- and reading these boards- lots of deals posted here are pretty good. and plan a trip, it's fun!

 

[My2Qtz0205]

Last August we received an unexpected check of $1800. I called my TA to see just how cheap we could do Disney, with that check being my budget.
It was just me & my kids (then ages 7 and 10), since DH had already used up his vacation, and my MIL joined us also. She paid for her own tickets and her own room. We drove down from VA non-stop, stayed at POP for 5 nights. MIL and I took turns pumping gas. We did 4 day tickets. We did not buy a dining plan, as my kids just don't eat that much. We only did one character meal, 1900 Park Fare breakfast, for which I think my MIL picked up the tab. I packed bottled water and snacks in a cooler. My mom gave the kids Disney gift cards for spending money.

We did go beyond the budget for BBB. Daddy approved that extra expense for his princess. I will also say that we did not include food in that budget. We took that out of our usual daily spending limit. We either ate at the POP or AoA food courts, or quick-service places in the parks.

 

[mco65]

Way back in '94 I took $1,000 out of my account and me and my daughter went. Just the two of us. We stayed off site at a low budget hotel and only visited 2 parks. MK and MGM.... Had a blast and actually came home with some left over cash....

There are 5 of us now and we typically try to stay within the 2-3k range.. this particular trip during spring break and without free dining is closer to 4k.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Signed up for the SWA credit card and got 50,000 miles so we spent 20,000 of those miles and paid just $20 for two r/t. That leaves us enough miles to go again for $20 for two r/t

Flew into Tampa because the flights were cheaper and so are the rental cars. Got a mid size from National for $52.00!!! Plus gas which should be about $40-$50

We are DVC members.

We eat off site and we usually about spend close to $40 a day. So food cost will be $240

Total cost of this May's trip $365 for two people.

Aunt and Uncle are both CM so no ticket cost for us.

 

[crisi]

Are you really seriously depressed? Is planning a Disney trip the only thing that is going to bring you joy?

If that is the case, you need to see a doctor - not plan a trip. Your mental health is really important and vacations to adjust your mental health is a nice way to do things (that's why we have vacations), but if you live from one vacation to the next, that isn't healthy.

If you are exaggerating, then never mind.

 

[Marionnette]

I have to say that DVC members and other timeshare owners who say that their accommodations cost them nothing are being disingenuous. It cost a lot to buy into a timeshare and it costs a lot more to pay those annual fees. Your costs are definitely not zero even if you didn't have to reach into your wallet and pay for your room directly.

The same goes for AP holders who say that their admission is free because the AP has "already paid for itself". The truth is, the AP will never truly pay for itself. However, your "cost per admission" is certainly lower when you visit more often.

And I'm saying this as someone who has both a PAP and DVC ownership! Maybe it's because doing the math is just too tedious for those things. And maybe it's because we like to fool ourselves into believing that those parts of our trip are "free". I did a breakdown of what my last trip cost me. Of the $530 that I spent on my trip last week, $230 could be attributed to what I spent on DVC and the pro-rated cost of my PAP. And that was for only 2 nights in an OKW studio and 3 days' worth of park admissions.

 

[clutter]

Investing in an AP does make it seem less expensive, though.

With only my dd and me, it didn't seem all that bad (plus, we used to do it when they were cheap!!!). I'd buy an AP every other year. We'd usually get two 10 day trips planned at the beginning and end of the AP, then maybe sneak a weekend in between. But... back then, we could get to MCO from the DC area for $110rt airfare. Now, a good fare seems to be $149 one-way. Of course, my dd turned into a teen, so we started to vacation at other places anyway.

 

[hsmamato2]

And there you have it this is true. My mom used to own a regular TS,and DVC which were great fun to utilize,but definitely NOT free,or even cheap IMHO.(I was the financial manager for a while) My DH and I decided that oop was a better situation for us,rather than either of those,and knowing the true numbers involved.(I like the DVC,but it's not for us)

I have to say that DVC members and other timeshare owners who say that their accommodations cost them nothing are being disingenuous. It cost a lot to buy into a timeshare and it costs a lot more to pay those annual fees. Your costs are definitely not zero even if you didn't have to reach into your wallet and pay for your room directly.

The same goes for AP holders who say that their admission is free because the AP has "already paid for itself". The truth is, the AP will never truly pay for itself. However, your "cost per admission" is certainly lower when you visit more often.

And I'm saying this as someone who has both a PAP and DVC ownership! Maybe it's because doing the math is just too tedious for those things. And maybe it's because we like to fool ourselves into believing that those parts of our trip are "free". I did a breakdown of what my last trip cost me. Of the $530 that I spent on my trip last week, $230 could be attributed to what I spent on DVC and the pro-rated cost of my PAP. And that was for only 2 nights in an OKW studio and 3 days' worth of park admissions.

 

[arminnie]

I can't remember the numbers but I planned a trip right after 9/11. Nobody was traveling. Airfare, rental car and an offsite hotel were dirt cheap.

 

[Princess Disney Mom]

Cheapest was a value resort during value season. No car rental and I packed a lot of food from home.

 

[DawnM]

Are you talking about per person or as a family?

I have no idea how many are in your family.

Our trips are typically around $2,000 including everything for a family of 5 for a week. If we go for two weeks, the cost is only minimally more (still under $2,500.)

That includes lodging, food, gas to get there, and tickets.

Dawn