Pre-Trip We were due

First time try one of these, so here we go-

Cast of Characters
Josh (your humble OP)- 36 year old married father of 3. Will be 7th trip, 4th as adult.
Brandi (DW)- 37 year old. Will be 4th trip, all as an adult.
Lawton (DS)- 11 year old. 4th trip
Madison (DD)- 8 year old. 4th trip
Ella (DD)- 4 year old. 2nd trip

Butch- 63 year old father of Josh, grandfather of many. This will be his 5th trip to the world.

McCall- 28 year old (turns 29 during trip) mother of 2 and sister to OP. Will be 3rd trip, 2nd as adult.
Molly- McCall's 5 year old daughter. Will be 2nd trip.
Jackson- McCall's 18 month old son. 1st trip.
Lisa- will not admit age. McCall's mother-in-law. Disney noob.

Pertinents-
7 days/6 nights - Port Orleans Riverside (May 21 - May 27)
Dining Plan: yes
Park Hopper: no
Water Park: nice try

 

[jharvey]

So we are 22 days out and we've decided to alter the trip in a couple of major ways. Initial plan was for us to do our usual 13 hour drive down. To do so, with 10 people, required us to reserve a 12 passenger van for 10 days for a total cost of $1,500 plus gas. On Monday of this week I mentioned my trip to a co-worker. This co-worker is a native of Florida who has cause to go back from time to time. He recommended that I look into airfare with Allegiant Air. I checked pricing, and this no-frills airliner could get us all there for just north of $850 one way. So we canceled the van and booked the flights.

This opened up a couple of new found needs. We are not flying into MCO, so we cannot take advantage of DME. We would nee transportation from the airport to the Radisson for the first night. We would need transportation to Port Orleans early in the morning of the 21st. And since we did not book a return flight, we needed transportation for the drive home. After knocking all of that out, it breaks down as follows. Saved $1,700 ( van + gas/snacks to Disney). Added expense of $850 in airfare + $160 for the shuttle to the Radisson + $40 for the shuttle to Port Orleans + $60 for the rental cars for the return trip (we couldnt believe the rate we got on the one-way car rentals. We printed the receipt and contacted an Enterprise Regional Manager to verify)= $590 to the good. Thanks brings us to the next major change.

Each trip, we try to throw a surprise in. MNSSHP was usually the surprise. Well, we paid for the morning Fantasyland event for the first day of our trip. When these things were announced, I felt it was a blatant money grab that showed that Disney finally overreached. But after reading a review on a certain person's site that is not welcomed on this site, and with the savings from our other changes, we did it. A fool and his money.