Disney World....For those who do not spend THOUSANDS.
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Anonymous
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What are your tips?
How long do you normally get tickets for? For toddlers, which parks are a must? Stay on site or off? What are your tips? |
Anonymous
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Define thousands - A day trip might not cost $1000 (close to it though) if you only buy tickets and pay for parking but that isn't likely.
Our two trips to Disney were under 4k. Not too bad for Disney, I guess. We purchased 6 day tickets the first trip and 5 day tickets the second trip. Ticket prices become cheaper the longer you stayed. For our last trip (the trip with 5 days), we looked into adding another day and it would have cost about $10 per person for the extra day. sign up for Mousesavers Newsletter. They have a special link to Undercover Tourist and they usually have the cheapest prices for tickets when you use that Mousesaver link. It's still expensive but at least it's something. Stay off-site. On your first day, stop by Wal-mart and stock up on food for the week. Eat breakfast at your condo. Pack lunches and snacks to eat at the park (Disney allows you to bring in your own food). Magic Kingdom is a definite must for toddlers. Go during the off-season. Under no circumstances should you go during peak season! |
Anonymous
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The best advice is to stay off-site. We got a condo like this:
http://www.cyberrentals.com/rental/p158307 for $650 a week (some of the resorts can run that per NIGHT). And then we were also able save money by buying food at Publix and cooking at the condo. That alone saved tons of money. |
Anonymous
| We stayed with family in Tampa and did a day trip at Magic Kingdom. That was enough for my then-4-year-old. |
Anonymous
| We spent a total of $2,000 for lodging, tickets and food for six nights. We did it by staying on site, using the busses and bringing our own groceries for several meals. Basically, we brought cereal and milk for the mornings, made peanut butter and jelly to eat in the park, brought other snacks and alcohol for nighttime. We are not usually food takers, but honestly, the options for quick food are kinda nasty, and it was great to be able to kill two birds by eating while in line. We did a couple character dinners and some epcot meals, but no wasted calories or dollars. |
Anonymous
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Stay off site definitely. Hotesl are a fraction of the cost.
Public transportation from hotel to parks or drive to Florida and use our own car. One park per day, no park hopper pass. Maximum two parks on a visit along with a Wet -n Wild trip. Only one meal in the park per day. Other meals outside the park at local (cheap) restaurants. Large breakfast so you can put off lunch until late. One souvenier per kid from each park. Costs for family of five for four nights in a hotel, 2 park days, a wet -n wild day, souveniers and meals are under $3k. The park admission alone is about $1,000. Hotels are less than $100 per night. Wet -n wild is in the $240 range. The rest is gas, meals and souveniers. On our most recent trip, it was even less because my kids wanted pizza in the room so they could go to the hotel pool. |
Anonymous
| Stay off-site with full kitchen, eat breakfast before you go, pack snacks and sandwiches. We did an expensive character meal once, and dinner out once or twice, but mainly managed to cook. We even would go back to the condo to rest and have dinner, then back to park for fireworks or whatever. I would also shop souvenirs before you go and bring them along as surprise gifts in the week. Walmart in Orlando has lots of lower-priced stuff too. |
Anonymous
| Sorry. If I have to cook and clean up then it's not a vacation for mom. |
Anonymous
Different strokes for different folks. We don't want to eat out for every meal of the day for seven days in a row. |
Anonymous
| Don't buy photo pass. Give the photographer your camera and they will take pics using your camera. |
Anonymous
| Go to the disboards . The budget people really know how to get the most out of things. |
Anonymous
There are tons of condos and other resorts like Hilton and Marriott chains in the area that are cheaper and they provide more space. If you're really on a budget look at hotels in the Lake Buena Vista area like the Marriott Residence Inn, Embassy Suites, or the Homewood Suites. The other area that has cheaper hotels are the Downtown Disney area. Check the Hilton and Marriott websites. They have quite a few hotels and resorts in the Disney area. Since you have a toddler you may want to stay at a hotel that has a kitchenette. Check for Orlando hotel reviews on Trip Advisor http://www.tripadvisor.com You could some of the locals questions as well on TA. Magic Kingdom is a must for toddlers. The Fantasy Land area is geared for that age group. As far as tickets go, it really depends on your child's personality and your child's stamina. Disney requires lots of walking and little ones do get tired and cranky. So, definitely don't visit a park back to back days. Your little one will be worn out. We usually alternate between a day at one of the parks with the next day relaxing and pool time, then a visit to a park, and so on. Also, you may want to ask your question on the "Disney for Families" and "Budget Board" over on the Disney Boards http://www.disboards.com You will get better responses. |
Anonymous
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We spent about $2000.
1. DH is military so we had access to the armed forces salute tickets - 4 day hopper for $160ish each 2. Stayed off site but within the gates at the Wyndham bonnet creek. $785 for 2 bed/bath condo with 5 pools, slides and lazy river. Ate breakfast at condo, took snacks plus lunch for dd into parks with us. Ate a couple of dinners at condo too on non park days. WBC is so close we came back for a lunch break on our MK days. We did EP and AK as 3/4 days. Skipped HS this time because of height restrictions - will do next time. 3. Went in May - warm but not ungodly hot, no rain whole week. 4. Drove - was able to bring whatever we could fit in car: food, souvenirs bought on clearance at disney store for dd - tinker bell brought them when we were out of the room, plus gave us the freedom of a car. Even if you stay on property, consider renting a car. I would read easywdw and the forums there for touring plan ideas and his crowd calendars are spot on. We did not do any character meals($$$$$ and the food is mediocre at best) and dd still met 23 characters it just takes planning. We rode everything we wanted multiple times. If you go to the Disboards, read everything there like you would dcum - with a filter. Mouse savers and undercover tourist are good sites as well. |
Anonymous
Seriously, every time my husband mentions something about kitchen and vacation in the same sentence I threaten to scratch his eyes out. |
Anonymous
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One thing to consider with staying offsite is how the new Fastpasses work. My understanding is that if you are staying off-site, you cannot take advantage of pre-arrival FP booking. I know that won't matter to everyone, but something to consider. We always bring our own food into the park even when staying on-site, and that helps save $$. Also, I find the sit-down restaurants are way overpriced so we generally skip those (though it is fun to eat in the Mexican Pavilion at least once). Other tips: order the kids meal even if you are an adult (cheaper and still enough food) and sit-down lunches are cheaper than dinners.
http://wdwprepschool.com/fastpass-at-magic-kingdom-for-on-site-and-off-site-guests/ |