My dd 14, ds 10 and I just returned from our first ever wdw vacation. I planned it with the idea it would be our only wdw vacation but now I wanna' try and go back someday. Ya'll are so right, there is no way to see it all in one trip. Next time, if there is a next time, I need to do it on a shoe string budget. I loved staying on site, last time it was cbr, next time I'm thinking pop. I love having a dining plan, next time I was thinking quick services, less time consuming. The kids really can't afford to miss school, so I'd have to plan for a time when school was out. The question is.....Whats the cheapest any of ya'll spent on say, a 5 to 7day vacation including airfare and how you do it?
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I wanna' go back!!! Help!
- Thread starter dianna
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RiversideBunny
New Member
We normally budget about $3K for a 5-7 day trip, including airfare.
That's for everything: room, meals, tickets, air, airport parking, and pet boarding.
Usually in comes in under that.
That's for a Moderate resort.
You can knock off about $50-60/night if staying at a Value resort.
It depends of course on what airlilne deals you can get.
Also how you eat at WDW. Free dining or not. Eating pattern, which for us is mostly a lot of Counter Service plus a few character buffets and maybe a nice Table Service meal at some point.
Room discounts really help.
Driving saves a little but it's almost a two-day drive to be safe and then you have to eat along the way and stay somewhere. So sometimes the math works out better to just fly.
You can go to the official Disney site and see what price you can get for a room and ticket package using exact dates and the resort. You don't have to book it to see the price; if fact they let you save it for future reference.
BTW- We usually go in December before Christmas week.
Good luck.
That's for everything: room, meals, tickets, air, airport parking, and pet boarding.
Usually in comes in under that.
That's for a Moderate resort.
You can knock off about $50-60/night if staying at a Value resort.
It depends of course on what airlilne deals you can get.
Also how you eat at WDW. Free dining or not. Eating pattern, which for us is mostly a lot of Counter Service plus a few character buffets and maybe a nice Table Service meal at some point.
Room discounts really help.
Driving saves a little but it's almost a two-day drive to be safe and then you have to eat along the way and stay somewhere. So sometimes the math works out better to just fly.
You can go to the official Disney site and see what price you can get for a room and ticket package using exact dates and the resort. You don't have to book it to see the price; if fact they let you save it for future reference.
BTW- We usually go in December before Christmas week.
Good luck.
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Atomicmickey
Well-Known Member
Here's what I did. Aggressively save a little each week. I tried to find money whereever I could. If I needed 20 from an instant cash, for example, I'd take out 40 and put the 20 away. I would put lunch on my debit card and collect cash from my lunchmates. Change in pocket goes in "the Mickey Jar".
You need to be aggressive, because these trips are not cheap!
Set a goal "when I have enough to pay for 1/2, or 2/3, or 3/4 or ALL of the trip, then I'll book it.
It's like exercise or something like that--you have to work every day to make it happen.
In my case I was able to put aside $3K in about 10 months. Our trip is going to cost 4200 with air fare (free dining, yay!). This, of course, does not count tips and souvenirs, but it's mostly all included. We're staying moderate, and we're going back in October, so THIS WORKS. For me, anyway!
Go for it, it is fun, saving for, preparing for, researching and anticipating the trip is a huge part of the whole experience for me--I feel connected to WDW even when I'm not there because I'm always working towards it.
Do what you can, be patient, and it will happen!
*end inspriational motivational speech of the day, lol*:lol:
You need to be aggressive, because these trips are not cheap!
Set a goal "when I have enough to pay for 1/2, or 2/3, or 3/4 or ALL of the trip, then I'll book it.
It's like exercise or something like that--you have to work every day to make it happen.
In my case I was able to put aside $3K in about 10 months. Our trip is going to cost 4200 with air fare (free dining, yay!). This, of course, does not count tips and souvenirs, but it's mostly all included. We're staying moderate, and we're going back in October, so THIS WORKS. For me, anyway!
Go for it, it is fun, saving for, preparing for, researching and anticipating the trip is a huge part of the whole experience for me--I feel connected to WDW even when I'm not there because I'm always working towards it.
Do what you can, be patient, and it will happen!
*end inspriational motivational speech of the day, lol*:lol:
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mickey7879
Member
We do things a little backwards. We FIRST book a trip right when we get home. It may be almost 2 yrs out, but we still book it. We feel that we NEED something to look forward to. If a promotion comes out, then we just rebook under the new promotion. We save all of our change, take out our "allowence" for the week and if we don't use it all we put it in the jar with the change. Or instead of say taking $30 our every week for our own personal use, we now take $20 and put in $10 in our savings. We also use our income tax money we get back.....spend some on what we need and save the rest. If anyone gives us money for our anniversary, birthdays or whatever it goes in the fund. My husband gets his meals paid for if he takes a person to another hospital (he's a paramedic), so when he gets reimbursed, he also puts that money away. Plus we have a bottle deposit on our cans and bottles, so we save all that money for Disney too. If you are always aware of the need to save (and your kids too!) then you will eat out less, spend less and be more tempted to put money in that jar or savings acct to get towards your goal. Even having a yard sale helps! The kids may be more willing to clear out some of their junk if they know it'll get them closer to going to Disney again. (and I sell things on ebay too. Just things around the house. You'd be surprised at how much money you can make and how much stuff you have that someone will pay a lot of money for!)
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zurgandfriend
Well-Known Member
I just got back Saturday night and I want to go back too! We went in December 2007 and the day I got back I started saving for most recent trip. Just as now I am saving for my next trip in 2011(hopefully).
Your best bet would be to go back as soon as school gets out for the year. I believe in Texas that’s late May or early June it’s not value season but it’s not peak season like during school vacation weeks either.
Kingdom Konsultants or AAA will help you get the best deals. Also, look for Disney specials like buy 4 nights get 3 free which is currently being offered for next year and watch for cheap airline tickets.
My DS who will be 12 in November is already 5’ 7” tall, I’m 6 feet tall and 200lbs and DW is, shall we say, similar in height and weight (I hope she doesn’t read this) so unfortunately we need the queen size beds of a deluxe resort . For our most recent trip I saved a lot of money by cutting down on the excess spending. I tell myself I would rather go back to Disney than have a new “toy” (i.e. tools, fishing rods, football/baseball games, lottery tickets etc) then I put the money I would have spent into a vacation fund. Bringing my lunch instead of buying also saved a huge amount of money.
When my DW says I don’t want to cook tonight, I say “I will” that way we save on dining out.
Hope this helps and good luck. I spent several years stationed in Texas and always found the people friendly and helpful.
Your best bet would be to go back as soon as school gets out for the year. I believe in Texas that’s late May or early June it’s not value season but it’s not peak season like during school vacation weeks either.
Kingdom Konsultants or AAA will help you get the best deals. Also, look for Disney specials like buy 4 nights get 3 free which is currently being offered for next year and watch for cheap airline tickets.
My DS who will be 12 in November is already 5’ 7” tall, I’m 6 feet tall and 200lbs and DW is, shall we say, similar in height and weight (I hope she doesn’t read this) so unfortunately we need the queen size beds of a deluxe resort . For our most recent trip I saved a lot of money by cutting down on the excess spending. I tell myself I would rather go back to Disney than have a new “toy” (i.e. tools, fishing rods, football/baseball games, lottery tickets etc) then I put the money I would have spent into a vacation fund. Bringing my lunch instead of buying also saved a huge amount of money.
When my DW says I don’t want to cook tonight, I say “I will” that way we save on dining out.
Hope this helps and good luck. I spent several years stationed in Texas and always found the people friendly and helpful.
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Just returned from Pop and booked for next August on the Bounceback offer. 10 days, Tix (including Water Parks) and free dining is $2100 for me & 2 sons. Dining saves us around $900. Airfare from here (US Virgin Islands) is pricey (lucky to get for $300). Might get lucky and find Freq Flyer tix, but often unavailable, or 60,000 miles each for coach seats. Sometimes find them for 35,000, which is doable, therefore would have a big cushion in spending $$$. Use our Disney Visa for most purchases and usually have a couple of hundred pts accumulated on that. Also save all change, put coupon savings in a jar, etc.
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smk
Well-Known Member
All great ideas posted already, here is my WDW shoestring plan.
While it is nice to have the DP, we have gone many times and never had it and I can't say I would ever buy it either. Sounds like too much food for too much money (unless it is free) to me. So, we don't buy the DP, budget carefully for CS meals and take our own snacks. We have all had a child's meal for lunch and it was more than enough for us. Sometimes we will split a child's meal as a snack later in the evening, works for us.
We have stayed on property and off, while I prefer on....if I find a real deal for off I would consider it. It would have to be a major good deal tho. The buy 4 get 3 deal may come around again, if it does it may worth taking a look at if you can swing it cause it doesn't get any better than that really.
We have no problems with any of the values, we prefer Sports but I would stay in any of them. After all, who spends the entire day in your hotel room at WDW?
Park hoppers are nice but I would forgo the "hopper" part to save money, we have in the past. And water parks? We never did that option even when we had teens. We also do not get tickets for every day we are there, for instance if we were to be there one week we would get tickets for 4 of those days. Down days are for resort hopping, book reading, downtown Disney, shopping and swimming. We have gone to the Space Center and various beaches for the day, obviously depending on if we have a car.
We sometimes drive, sometimes fly. If I can find good airfare we fly, but it has to be really good (once again) or else we drive. We can make the drive in one long day for about 160 dollars round trip in gas and a cooler of food and snacks, so the airfare has to be dirt cheap to entice me to buy.
We are currently living on a shoestring budget and can't find a way to eek out a dime to save for a vacation.....but it does not stop me from planning! I take my lunch to work, we never eat a meal out anymore and while that helps with our monthly budget it does very little to free up extra money to pay for a vacation. Instead it gets used for things like college tuition and books. My car is going to paid off in June of next year, our daughter will be almost done with college so I am hoping that next year we can go once again. I am afraid I have forgotten what "disposable" income looks like! I hope to "remember" it again soon!
Bottom line is this, everyone knows their situation best. We could not go on a vacation knowing we had neglected bills to go, so for us right now is not a good time to even try to plan. We don' put vacations on a charge card, so we only play when we can pay. I don't mind going on the cheap, ever. I would go to WDW anyday on the cheap if it meant I was there. Planning a year in advance works kinda like putting your vacation on layaway, pay for it alittle at a time and before you know it the whole thing is paid for. I like that the best, but one day, I would love to wake up and get in the car and go! That would be the life! :wave:
While it is nice to have the DP, we have gone many times and never had it and I can't say I would ever buy it either. Sounds like too much food for too much money (unless it is free) to me. So, we don't buy the DP, budget carefully for CS meals and take our own snacks. We have all had a child's meal for lunch and it was more than enough for us. Sometimes we will split a child's meal as a snack later in the evening, works for us.
We have stayed on property and off, while I prefer on....if I find a real deal for off I would consider it. It would have to be a major good deal tho. The buy 4 get 3 deal may come around again, if it does it may worth taking a look at if you can swing it cause it doesn't get any better than that really.
We have no problems with any of the values, we prefer Sports but I would stay in any of them. After all, who spends the entire day in your hotel room at WDW?
Park hoppers are nice but I would forgo the "hopper" part to save money, we have in the past. And water parks? We never did that option even when we had teens. We also do not get tickets for every day we are there, for instance if we were to be there one week we would get tickets for 4 of those days. Down days are for resort hopping, book reading, downtown Disney, shopping and swimming. We have gone to the Space Center and various beaches for the day, obviously depending on if we have a car.
We sometimes drive, sometimes fly. If I can find good airfare we fly, but it has to be really good (once again) or else we drive. We can make the drive in one long day for about 160 dollars round trip in gas and a cooler of food and snacks, so the airfare has to be dirt cheap to entice me to buy.
We are currently living on a shoestring budget and can't find a way to eek out a dime to save for a vacation.....but it does not stop me from planning! I take my lunch to work, we never eat a meal out anymore and while that helps with our monthly budget it does very little to free up extra money to pay for a vacation. Instead it gets used for things like college tuition and books. My car is going to paid off in June of next year, our daughter will be almost done with college so I am hoping that next year we can go once again. I am afraid I have forgotten what "disposable" income looks like! I hope to "remember" it again soon!
Bottom line is this, everyone knows their situation best. We could not go on a vacation knowing we had neglected bills to go, so for us right now is not a good time to even try to plan. We don' put vacations on a charge card, so we only play when we can pay. I don't mind going on the cheap, ever. I would go to WDW anyday on the cheap if it meant I was there. Planning a year in advance works kinda like putting your vacation on layaway, pay for it alittle at a time and before you know it the whole thing is paid for. I like that the best, but one day, I would love to wake up and get in the car and go! That would be the life! :wave:
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WDW 3
Well-Known Member
Change in pocket goes in "the Mickey Jar". You need to be aggressive, because these trips are not cheap!
We have a Mickey Jar too!! I thought our first trip would be our last and I was WRONG! Good or bad, our first trip was for our DD birthday which happened to be during Spring Break/Easter. WOW, busy. So we decided we needed to go back during a slower month. 1 1/2 years later we were back in October. Two years later and now 1 year later!!! I am a fanatic at growing my frequent flier miles and we have only paid for one ticket out of 12. That goes a long way in saving money for us!
We have a Mickey Jar too!! I thought our first trip would be our last and I was WRONG! Good or bad, our first trip was for our DD birthday which happened to be during Spring Break/Easter. WOW, busy. So we decided we needed to go back during a slower month. 1 1/2 years later we were back in October. Two years later and now 1 year later!!! I am a fanatic at growing my frequent flier miles and we have only paid for one ticket out of 12. That goes a long way in saving money for us!
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lighteningqueen
Well-Known Member
I don't save, just book and hope I make it when it omes due and always have. We are self employed and cannot predict income any given month. By the way Hello fellow Texan... It is the best place on earth isn't it. We felt that way when we went our first time in 2007 for Christmas, had to go back in 2008 Christmas well early Dec.. Best time there its cool and we Texas people hate heat we live in it up until Jan usually. Book it and then start paying on it each month what you can. you will of course have to put down the 200.00 for room and 1 day of park tickets. Then wait for a deal on the food. I would stay at POP or any of the values to save money. After all you will go commando next time promise you. Thats what we did wanting to get more in and did. But this year we are going with out my DD her DH and 6 yr old grandson so that we can see all we didn't again. Too many character lines and not enough tour time.. Book now for next time and start paying little at a time. There is no set amount per month, just has to be paid for 45 days in advance and then also as said above keep watching for discounts or free dining. Trust me the dining is cheaper to get on a plan. We did it without last year and spent more money and got less food. You have to pay for your drinks and desserts if you eat them and we ate on the cheap.
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captainkidd
Well-Known Member
Here is what I do.
We're going in July of next year. We go every summer. As soon as we get back, I book the next trip. We always get a decent tax refund, so much of that goes to the trip. I also work on commissions, so when I have a good month, I pay more of the trip off. The key thing is this:
Every day I transfer $25 from my checking account into my savings account. This adds up fast. In a months time, that's $750. By the end of this year, that money should just about pay the hotel off.
Anything you can put aside, just put it aside.
We're going in July of next year. We go every summer. As soon as we get back, I book the next trip. We always get a decent tax refund, so much of that goes to the trip. I also work on commissions, so when I have a good month, I pay more of the trip off. The key thing is this:
Every day I transfer $25 from my checking account into my savings account. This adds up fast. In a months time, that's $750. By the end of this year, that money should just about pay the hotel off.
Anything you can put aside, just put it aside.
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captainkidd
Well-Known Member
How did you do that? Boucneback offers are only out until December as of right now.
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foreverbelle
Well-Known Member
Disney seems to be addicting. I agree we just save were we can. We also have a jar of change that every penny goes into it. You wouldn't believe how much change we save....and plan plan plan...
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Stayed this year from 8/19-8/29 and booked for same dates in 2010. Offer good from 8/15/10-9/30/10. Must be booked before checkout date (on or before Oct 24, 2009)
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captainkidd
Well-Known Member
That's bizarre. We checked out on the 23rd, called the number listed, and were told no rates were out yet for Bounceback next year. Must have just extended it after we checked out.
Wouldn't work for us anyway. We're going in July, not August next year.
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Susan Savia
Well-Known Member
We budget all year long with Disney in mind...we do not do movies in theaters, we rarely dine out, save all our change, income tax refunds are saved for it, overtime money is saved for it...over time this all adds up. We saved last years stimulus money we got to pay for our upcoming tickets (AP's). We see and do everything in the parks, but we still cut back on some things such as we find one good meal a day is sufficient. We only do two ADRs, one breakfast and one dinner during our week. Got an excellent room rate offsite for our next visit and we always drive our own vehicle down. Start saving now and before you know it, you'll have it. :ROFLOL:
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durangojim
Well-Known Member
What we do is buy annual passes, then look and see if we can find any cheap airfare, then see if there's a AP discount for that period of time, and then try to go at least twice in a twelve month period (usually more like 3-4 times). That way, after the first trip, our tickets are paid off for any future trip within a year. We don't do the dining plan but are Tables in Wonderland members. Granted we usually stay at deluxes so this isn't really a shoe string budget, but for our upcoming trip in Sept, were staying at a moderate for $89 per night and airfare from Detroit was only $120/person, and we don't have to pay for tickets, so that's pretty good.
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pcarathers
Active Member
We book our trip as far out as we can. That way, you know exactly how much your package will be and the date it is due paid in full. Then we budget our spending/meals/travel means,etc.
Then I buy one of those large desk top calendars and decorate it up with Disney stickers and COUNTDOWN the days! I mark each payday we have between the time I book and the date it has to be paid. Any extra money goes into of Disney savings. We have used our income tax refunds before, but if I don't have to use it, I would rather not.
We usually splurge on the dining plan as we always have small kids with us and we tend to do as many of the character meals as we possibly can so we don't have to spend too much time standing in lines in the parks for autographs! Only for the characters we know we don't have or that are very unique!
Believe me, we tried for a couple of years before we finally made it for our first trip in 2000. We've been back in Oct 2002, Oct 2004, Dec 2006 and May 2009...We have had to save down to the wire almost every trip.
There are so many ways to save $ you just have to do some research and comparisons.
GOOD LUCK and have FUN:sohappy:
Then I buy one of those large desk top calendars and decorate it up with Disney stickers and COUNTDOWN the days! I mark each payday we have between the time I book and the date it has to be paid. Any extra money goes into of Disney savings. We have used our income tax refunds before, but if I don't have to use it, I would rather not.
We usually splurge on the dining plan as we always have small kids with us and we tend to do as many of the character meals as we possibly can so we don't have to spend too much time standing in lines in the parks for autographs! Only for the characters we know we don't have or that are very unique!
Believe me, we tried for a couple of years before we finally made it for our first trip in 2000. We've been back in Oct 2002, Oct 2004, Dec 2006 and May 2009...We have had to save down to the wire almost every trip.
There are so many ways to save $ you just have to do some research and comparisons.
GOOD LUCK and have FUN:sohappy:
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mousefan76.8
New Member
When planning a trip to Disney I give myself a weekly budget and anything left over goes into the Disney jar. I also have asked for Disney Gift Cards as birthday gifts, christmas, etc... Definitely book a Value resort and I strongly recommend the DDP. We have used it three times now and find it completely worth it. On our last trip with three people we saved $200 for three days. Plus, you get to eat at wonderful restaurants.
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