How do large families afford a day in Disney!!

[cowanfamily]

I have a family of 6. We went twice last year. A week in June and a week in November. You have to be flexible with the dates you go. Make sure you go when they offer good deals like free dining. Pin codes are helpful as well. I had free dining for my family both times I went. We didn't upgrade the dining either. The 2 snack credits per person saved alot of money as well.
As stated earlier multi-day stays are the best value for your dollar. After 4 days there is almost no difference in your ticket prices.
If you are staying off property(which I never do anymore) Come a day early and go see a timeshare. Be adamant with your NO response to their salesmanship, and get your free tickets. That is the only way I would go for 1 day. I wouldn't pay full price for a 1 day ticket.

 

[Raven66]

Don't know if this is true, but supposedly, people have ordered double cheeseburgers, paid an extra $1 or so for an extra bun. Boom. 2 cheese burgers, one for me, one for thee. Split the fries, maybe the beverage too or splurge on an extra drink (or maybe one person just wants water). A great way to save a couple of bucks each day.

We will have to give that a whirl next time. We always buy a large soda and just share it. It's weird but with all the walking and water we drink we just don't eat as much, which is a really good thing.

 

[Phonedave]

Don't know if this is true, but supposedly, people have ordered double cheeseburgers, paid an extra $1 or so for an extra bun. Boom. 2 cheese burgers, one for me, one for thee. Split the fries, maybe the beverage too or splurge on an extra drink (or maybe one person just wants water). A great way to save a couple of bucks each day.

That used to be the case.

But so many people were doing it that they raised the price on the bun.

-dave

 

[THEMEPARKPIONEER]

Maybe the tax deductions helped them afford a trip to disney :lookaroun .

 

[draybook]

Yep, our refund pays for our trip every year.

We go during off season, and for roughly 8 or 9 days for the four of us it's around $2300. It sucks because our daughter is about to turn 11 and our son will be 10 so now we get to pay for 4 adult tickets. I love how a 10 year old is an adult.

Anyhow, overpaying on taxes is a sure fire way to have the money ready for the next trip. We splurged a bit last time and did the expensive package at BBB for my daughter, the high package at Pirates for my son and two Xmas parties. But I make decent money and we save well.

 

[cymbaldiva]

This forum is turning into the DIS.

That's funny because it's true! :ROFLOL:

OP, honestly I don't know. Like slappy magoo said, Disney does not market toward the one day visitor ~ I don't like it and don't agree with it, but it is what it is. It's a lot of of the reason why lately I'm spending my vacation $$ elsewhere ... I love Disney, but I'd like to see other things as well and it's just not economical to do a day or 2 at WDW.

Best I could recommend is to pack a lunch and cut back on the extras ~ I do hope you had a great time on your visit!

 

[captainkidd]

This forum is turning into the DIS.

Then I should be banned any second now.:lol:

 

[dsnyfreak]

we are a family of 4 one being an 18 month old and we are staing for 6 days next week and we will probably spend $1500 that includes stay at POP passes and food, but i guess because we are Florida Residents....:lookaroun

 

[wdwfanatic4yrs]

Don't know if this is true, but supposedly, people have ordered double cheeseburgers, paid an extra $1 or so for an extra bun. Boom. 2 cheese burgers, one for me, one for thee. Split the fries, maybe the beverage too or splurge on an extra drink (or maybe one person just wants water). A great way to save a couple of bucks each day.

that is a great idea!! i might have to try that when we go in july. save around $6 per meal. do that for 10 days. just think of all the pineapple swirls and kaki gori's i could get :sohappy:

 

[renee123]

So right about the one day thing

 

[renee123]

To Slappy Magoo,
Thanks for bringing the one day thing to my attention. It seems the people staying for longer periods save a bundle and not spend $600 each and every day. I like to hit Universal and Seaworld when we come to Orlando so we only do the day in MK. We also have a timeshare in Orlando so we don't stay on site. I think next time I'm going to stay on site so my daughter will have experience of staying at Disney. I've done it as a child and for business and it is pretty special. As for spending so much time at the salon that just wasn't the case. It took all of 1 hour. She is a real girly girl so this was big for her. We also had the pleasure of doing Disney on a day that the park was almost empty. I mean I never seen it so empty! No waiting for any rides. In fact when we asked to sit in the front row on POC the castmate said "Heck, take the entire boat for your family."

 

[Susan Savia]

Our family of 3 go every year and use Annual Passes, so every other year we go inside of the first year to get two trips in on the passes. We drive down from VA, stay 10 nights offsite and eat breakfast in our room and only eat in the park maybe twice for lunch. That alone is a big savings. We carry a snack for mid day munching and get a good dinner in the evening outside the park. I have in the past carried a peanut butter sandwich in my purse! Shopping is kept to a minimum. We use the water fountains if we're thirsty. We do a variety of things to save for our trips like saving all our change, yard sale each year, a visit to the casino, etc. We still have a fabulous time.

 

[Yoop33]

CREDIT CARD!!! I see families every day that I have no idea how they do it. Not that I dont think they can afford it or that I am judging them, but I am always amazed when I see a large family come into the Grand or Poly and tell me they are staying for a couple weeks. I cant imagine how much that is costing them.
At times I think families just say "Lets just suck it up and spend the money cause we know we are going to remember this forever".
Im sure ill be saying and doing the same things when I have kids

 

[powlessfamily4]

We went with my brothers family twice this year - June (5 days) and Nov (8 days). There are tons of ways to save money on your trip and tons of different ways to save money for the trip. If you really want to go you will make it happen.

My family has such a fabulous time at the parks that every penny I pay is worth it. You can't shop your memories, but if you have to put a price on them, then Disney is a great deal for guaranteed great ones!

 

[Rob562]

Don't know if this is true, but supposedly, people have ordered double cheeseburgers, paid an extra $1 or so for an extra bun. Boom. 2 cheese burgers, one for me, one for thee. Split the fries, maybe the beverage too or splurge on an extra drink (or maybe one person just wants water). A great way to save a couple of bucks each day.

Another option without buying the extra bun (which as was pointed out, Disney increased the price of) would just be to order the doube-cheeseburger and cut it in half. You still get the equivalent of one burger, it's just two stacked halves. And it's less bread.

-Rob

 

[SpoonOfSugar]

Another option without buying the extra bun (which as was pointed out, Disney increased the price of) would just be to order the doube-cheeseburger and cut it in half. You still get the equivalent of one burger, it's just two stacked halves. And it's less bread.

-Rob

We did this for so long with my youngest 2. we also did it when is came to the kids wanting chicken nuggets. We would get 1 adult meal instead of 2 kids. The kids don't eat as much in the warm weather. Split it up, for drinks use the water we brought from the hotel(which we bought at Walmart) and you have a meal for 2-3 kids. We were normally able to feed our family of 5 with 3 adult meals, 3 times a day.

That no longer works with a 11, 14, and 18 year old :lol:

 

[pluto77]

The people who are saying Disney doesn't cater to the one day right I believe are correct. Once you buy a 3 or 4 day ticket the price of each day after that is only like $3 more so the price you are paying for each day in the park I think works out to like $20 a day or something like that for a full 10 day pass. Disney also is offering the free meal plan more and more it seems like for people staying on site. And you did say you wanted to make it a meaningful trip so you spent all that extra money in the one day you were there whereas you'd probably spread it out over multiple days. So basically it's a combination of saving up for maybe the one family vacation a year, searching all over for deals (through Disney and other areas), and just excessive planning and being smart with your money.

 

[MAF]

How can someone complain about Disney being too expensive yet they spent money on BBB, a princess gown, and also a bunch of stuff their kid "had to have"? I'm pretty sure you can enjoy the parks without the above, they are not necessities. I think this poster is trying to stir the pot and complain for no reason. Also if you were trying to save money why in the world would you rent a stroller? Either bring your own or make the child walk, its quite simple.

 

[slappy magoo]

How can someone complain about Disney being too expensive yet they spent money on BBB, a princess gown, and also a bunch of stuff their kid "had to have"? I'm pretty sure you can enjoy the parks without the above, they are not necessities. I think this poster is trying to stir the pot and complain for no reason. Also if you were trying to save money why in the world would you rent a stroller? Either bring your own or make the child walk, its quite simple.

Some people don't like to bring their own stroller for fear they'll get stolen.
You can easily put miles on your shoes over the course of a single day. And if a kid gets tired and cranky and you have no place to put him or her, you're pretty much done for the day.

I can't begrudge the OP for renting a stroller.

I don't think she was trying to stir the pot - you can read her subsequent posts and see that she's far from being a pantload. I think she just didn't consider that WDW caters to multiday visitors. And let's face it, I'm sure a lot of people don't know that, and wind up with "sticker shock" when they find out what it costs to go just for a day. A lot of those people might then extrapolate and assume it costs that much a day, every day. You just don't see many of those types of people on this forum.

 

[tampabrad]

WDW is an expensive vacation. Bottom Line.

You can afford it in many different ways.

1. You can afford it. You already have the disposable income, money in the bank etc.

2. You save. Some people save for a day trip, some for an extravagant trip at the best hotel with the best options. But they save and have a particular budget for their trip.

3. You win a trip or someone else pays for it.

Personally, I go when I want. I have an AP, I live in Florida, and I used to work at DRC so I know how to get the most for my money. As long as my income allows and I can get a good rate, I stay at deluxe resorts. I like to eat at signature dining. If my income doesn't allow for it, I stay at a moderate resort or just go for the day.