Planing trip with friends

[bigbadwolf]

Because of my disapointment in my senior class trip...
TO THREAD

I am now planing another trip... This summer with my REAL friends and I. Like probably about 4-8 of them might go... Maybe just even 3, but can anybody answer my questions? It is just a group of my friends, all guys 18 years old or older.

1. How much will it cost, like an average for 1 person to go for 5 days?
2. What Resort should I choose?
3. What is the best way to transport ourselves?
4. Do I have to get room reservations early? and how early?
5. Any tips?

 

[bigbadwolf]

***BUMP***

 

[wannabeBelle]

Because of my disapointment in my senior class trip...
TO THREAD

I am now planing another trip... This summer with my REAL friends and I. Like probably about 4-8 of them might go... Maybe just even 3, but can anybody answer my questions? It is just a group of my friends, all guys 18 years old or older.

1. How much will it cost, like an average for 1 person to go for 5 days?
2. What Resort should I choose?
3. What is the best way to transport ourselves?
4. Do I have to get room reservations early? and how early?
5. Any tips?

Hi there, Cost is a very subjective factor. A lot of it depends on what you are going to eat, what you are going to do and where you are going to stay.
As far as a resort, I would assume that you dont want to spend too much money?? If that is the case Id suggest one of the Value resorts
Transport, due to your age and as a cost saving feature Id recommend taking Disney's Magical Express tranfasfer from the airport, and using the Disney transport to and from the parks.
Room reservations can be made at anyt time, obviously the earlier the better as there is more choice of rooms etc. What time of the year were you looking at approximately?
tips- I have a ton of them but let's get you squared away with all of the above first.
The very first thing I would do is work up how much this will cost and see if you friends are OK with paying that kind of money. Dont forget factor in airfare, transport to and from the hotel ( If it is after May 5th this is included) hotel cost, and MYW ticket. Price it with and without the Dining plan. Let me know how that goes and then we will chat more. Belle

 

[bigbadwolf]

Hi there, Cost is a very subjective factor. A lot of it depends on what you are going to eat, what you are going to do and where you are going to stay.
As far as a resort, I would assume that you dont want to spend too much money?? If that is the case Id suggest one of the Value resorts
Transport, due to your age and as a cost saving feature Id recommend taking Disney's Magical Express tranfasfer from the airport, and using the Disney transport to and from the parks.
Room reservations can be made at anyt time, obviously the earlier the better as there is more choice of rooms etc. What time of the year were you looking at approximately?
tips- I have a ton of them but let's get you squared away with all of the above first.
The very first thing I would do is work up how much this will cost and see if you friends are OK with paying that kind of money. Dont forget factor in airfare, transport to and from the hotel ( If it is after May 5th this is included) hotel cost, and MYW ticket. Price it with and without the Dining plan. Let me know how that goes and then we will chat more. Belle

Thanks I will let you know if I have any questions.
My friends and I agreed to stay at the allstar resort, or 1 of them.
I do have 1 question as of now-
How does the transportation from Orlando Airport to WDW work? I've never done that before... and how do you get back to the airport?

 

[auroraarielella]

I have heard that the Magic Express transport if from airport to hotel and from hotel to airport, so no need for transportation worries in either direction.

 

[Yellow Shoes]

OK--running the numbers on disneyworld.com

4 adults
June 12-18
7 day park passes with Park Hopping/6 nights in hotel
All Star Movies

$1762.76

or

$440.70 each

<edit> Sorry--I missed that you asked about 5 days.

5 days /4 nights = $1491.80
or

$395.20 each



Add to this transportation from home to Orlando, plus meals (which can be whatever you want to pay)

 

[Ashitaka]

How does the transportation from Orlando Airport to WDW work? I've never done that before... and how do you get back to the airport?

You can read about the new Magical Express service here.

http://www.wdwmagic.com/magicalexpress.htm

It will make getting from airport to the resort and back really easy. Plus it doesn't cost you anything extra if you are staying at a Disney Resort.

 

[slappy magoo]

The major wild card in your cost depends on what kind of admission ticket you want. For instance, do you want the option of park-hopping? Do you want a no-expiration date option on unused days, in case you wind up going out for a day or two to US/IOA/Anywhere else? Do you want access to the water parks, Pleasure Island, etc.

As for transportation, as it's been stated before, Disney now has an option, free to guests staying at a WDW hotel, of bus service to and from the airports. I read about it as www.allearsnet.com, but I'd guess, when you call for reservations, you can ask about it and they might be able to set you up then and there.

Finally, if even one of your party opts for an annual pass, you'll be able to book up to 3 rooms at reduced rates. Depending on when you go, those savings could be really substantial. We're talking 30-40% or more. You and your buddies can draw straws to see who'll pay for the annual pass, but then you can all split the difference in the price of the card, being that you'll all also be benefitting from the reduced room rate, you know what I mean? You might even be able to trade up to a moderate resort, or an extra room at a Value Resort so you're not so cramped. Plus, if you get an annual pass, for an extra 50 dollars, you can get a Disney Dining Experience card that's good for 20% off meals in many restaurants in WDW (including the food courts at All-Star Resorts and Pop Century). One card holder is good for up to 8 people. I think that'll save you more money than the dining add-on option with the Magic Your Way tickets.

 

[shoppingnut]

If staying at a value resort, I would definitely pick Pop. It is the newest and the transportation to/from resort and parks/DTD are not shared with other resorts. When it is time to make reservations, I would contact Pam at Kingdom Konsultants (who sponsors this board and her info is on the home page), she is great. She can answer all questions regarding tickets, dining, etc.

 

[bigbadwolf]

Ok. thanks everybody! lol
This really helps, what might turn out will probably be just 3 guys including me and a one of my friends girl friend... unless some of change thier minds. I am going in the summer... or maybe later in october (Cheaper flights.)... not sure about the date.

 

[wannabeBelle]

The major wild card in your cost depends on what kind of admission ticket you want. For instance, do you want the option of park-hopping? Do you want a no-expiration date option on unused days, in case you wind up going out for a day or two to US/IOA/Anywhere else? Do you want access to the water parks, Pleasure Island, etc.

As for transportation, as it's been stated before, Disney now has an option, free to guests staying at a WDW hotel, of bus service to and from the airports. I read about it as www.allearsnet.com, but I'd guess, when you call for reservations, you can ask about it and they might be able to set you up then and there.

Finally, if even one of your party opts for an annual pass, you'll be able to book up to 3 rooms at reduced rates. Depending on when you go, those savings could be really substantial. We're talking 30-40% or more. You and your buddies can draw straws to see who'll pay for the annual pass, but then you can all split the difference in the price of the card, being that you'll all also be benefitting from the reduced room rate, you know what I mean? You might even be able to trade up to a moderate resort, or an extra room at a Value Resort so you're not so cramped. Plus, if you get an annual pass, for an extra 50 dollars, you can get a Disney Dining Experience card that's good for 20% off meals in many restaurants in WDW (including the food courts at All-Star Resorts and Pop Century). One card holder is good for up to 8 people. I think that'll save you more money than the dining add-on option with the Magic Your Way tickets.

A wild card is the passes but I dont think that presents as many variables as Dining and Activities. You can spend a small fortune on those. Tickets there are really only a few choices, Dining and Activities are far more expansive and can get expensive. Belle

 

[slappy magoo]

A wild card is the passes but I dont think that presents as many variables as Dining and Activities. You can spend a small fortune on those. Tickets there are really only a few choices, Dining and Activities are far more expansive and can get expensive. Belle

Ah, but to be fair, a lot of THOSE expenses can be covered under the price of your tickets, you know what I mean? Sure, once you decide whether or not you want water parks, PI, DisneyQuest and/or food covered under the cost of your tickets, there are still lots of add-on activites you could do (renting bikes or boats, miniature golf, REAL golf behind the scenes tours, etc). But if someone OPTS to add those features on the ticket, they'll have so much to do inclided in their ticket price, they might not have time to do much of anything else anyway. Plus, if they want to spend the extra money to make sure their tickets (or Extra features) don't expire, that could put a big dent in their vacation budget as well, especially considering they're just out of high school, and probably don't have the gobs of disposable income grownups have...

...uh...yeah... :lookaroun

 

[wannabeBelle]

Ah, but to be fair, a lot of THOSE expenses can be covered under the price of your tickets, you know what I mean? Sure, once you decide whether or not you want water parks, PI, DisneyQuest and/or food covered under the cost of your tickets, there are still lots of add-on activites you could do (renting bikes or boats, miniature golf, REAL golf behind the scenes tours, etc). But if someone OPTS to add those features on the ticket, they'll have so much to do inclided in their ticket price, they might not have time to do much of anything else anyway. Plus, if they want to spend the extra money to make sure their tickets (or Extra features) don't expire, that could put a big dent in their vacation budget as well, especially considering they're just out of high school, and probably don't have the gobs of disposable income grownups have...

...uh...yeah... :lookaroun

oh yeah there are variables where the tix are concerned I just dont think there are as many options as there are for say dining. Assuming that you dont chose the Dining plan, How many restaurants in Disney are there?? And what is the price range?? See what I mean? I dont know if I am expaining myself well today!!! Sorry if I Am not! :hammer: :hammer: Belle

 

[polynesiangirl]

A word of advice as someone who has tried numerous times to book a "friends" trip (and only pulled it off, sort of, once,): Get people to *commit* to the trip, if you are serious about going. So many times I had people tell me "yeah, that sounds fun..." or "yeah, this price looks fair..." only to have them back out once I actually tried to book stuff. Once I had someone drop out of the trip AFTER I had already put money down and I ended up having to pay extra $ to make up for what would have been their "share" of the cost (I know I could have like, demanded that they pay their share even if they weren't going, but I just didn't even want to go there and start even more problems...)

If you can get it off the ground, I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time - but be prepared for people (especially those who are not experienced with WDW) to have sudden sticker shock, or for some people to just not really take it seriously until there's actual money involved! Hopefully your friends will spare you ever having to deal with any of that stuff anyhow - let us know how it works out!

 

[Victoria]

Just a word on the time to go...i kno u mentioned possibly waiting till October to go...that would be my recommendation. Airfare is cheaper, rooms might be cheaper, and the weather is easier to deal with. Also, the parks are less crowded so you'll get to do more and you wont broil in the Florida sun as badly. October has always been my fav time to go.


PS- sorry you had to go to WDW with such a brigade of idiots from your school. At least now you can have this trip to heal some of those wounds

 

[longfamily]

october is a cheaper time of the year to go as well.

 

[wannabeBelle]

A word of advice as someone who has tried numerous times to book a "friends" trip (and only pulled it off, sort of, once,): Get people to *commit* to the trip, if you are serious about going. So many times I had people tell me "yeah, that sounds fun..." or "yeah, this price looks fair..." only to have them back out once I actually tried to book stuff. Once I had someone drop out of the trip AFTER I had already put money down and I ended up having to pay extra $ to make up for what would have been their "share" of the cost (I know I could have like, demanded that they pay their share even if they weren't going, but I just didn't even want to go there and start even more problems...)

If you can get it off the ground, I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time - but be prepared for people (especially those who are not experienced with WDW) to have sudden sticker shock, or for some people to just not really take it seriously until there's actual money involved! Hopefully your friends will spare you ever having to deal with any of that stuff anyhow - let us know how it works out!

I couldnt agree with you more!!! I have since learned I book the trip for myself and maybe one other person. Anyone else I tell them I will help them book the trip but I make sure that the room, tickets, etc is all on their credit card!!!! Put up or shut up is my rule of thumb. Unfortunately most people will shut up!!! Belle

 

[Lionking]

I am going down for spring break (march 14th-19th) this year with one of my friends for 6 days 5 nights we are staying at pop century and it is going to cost about $750 each for Hotel park tickets and Air fare.
2 more weeks:sohappy:

 

[bigbadwolf]

A word of advice as someone who has tried numerous times to book a "friends" trip (and only pulled it off, sort of, once,): Get people to *commit* to the trip, if you are serious about going. So many times I had people tell me "yeah, that sounds fun..." or "yeah, this price looks fair..." only to have them back out once I actually tried to book stuff. Once I had someone drop out of the trip AFTER I had already put money down and I ended up having to pay extra $ to make up for what would have been their "share" of the cost (I know I could have like, demanded that they pay their share even if they weren't going, but I just didn't even want to go there and start even more problems...)

If you can get it off the ground, I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time - but be prepared for people (especially those who are not experienced with WDW) to have sudden sticker shock, or for some people to just not really take it seriously until there's actual money involved! Hopefully your friends will spare you ever having to deal with any of that stuff anyhow - let us know how it works out!

Thanks for the advice and I will tell everyone what happens.
My trip has been planed in the middle of october.

 

[bigbadwolf]

I am going down for spring break (march 14th-19th) this year with one of my friends for 6 days 5 nights we are staying at pop century and it is going to cost about $750 each for Hotel park tickets and Air fare.
2 more weeks:sohappy:

I guess tahts about around how much it will cost us. Thanks for the info :slurp: