Most Cost Saving Choice

[kat9300]

We have stayed on property several times and know the benefits of doing so.

But.. this time we are going for the most cost affective arrangements to include accommodations, meals, and transportation.

Is it less expensive to stay at an off-property hotel, eat on our own and take the hotel bus

OR

Stay on property at a value resort, purchase the Disney dining and not have to worry about transportation?

[faline]

I'm sure you can find less expensive off-site accommodations. However, the tradeoff is that the bus schedules may not be what you'd like them to be - for example, the bus may not run often and the last one may leave well before the park closing time.

Personally, I'd probably stay in a value resort, pay out of procket for my meals (which is generally less expensive than the dining plan packages), use Magical Express to get to the resort, and use Disney transport to get around.

[BowTie7]

Will you be driving to Florida? If you have a car it does seem like it makes staying off-property easier to deal with. Hotel shuttle buses never seem to be an easy option.
Can you commit to eating breakfast in-room and bringing your own snacks to the parks? I sometimes like to stay at an extended stay place with at least a full size refrigerator and microwave, and then commit to seriously saving money on food.
What time of the year are you going? While all hotels prices vary throughout the year, in some of the slow times, off-site prices can drop more that the Disney hotels (and when its really busy, offsite can get expensive since it may be all that's left).
Off-site vs on-site can also vary based on the number in your group and what room configuration will work best.

[tjstrike]

Personally, we prefer QS dining and staying on site. The small cost savings for staying off site and not using the dining plan isn't worth the hassle. IMO :thumbsup:

[lawgirl]

I think it would be more of a hassle to stay off-property, since I doubt the busses at a non-Disney hotel would be running every 15 minutes. WHat if you did a Value Resort and skipped the DDP, and just did the quick service meals? Maybe plan 1 nicer TS meal? That's a good way to save money. And it seems we always spend so much money on breakfast. If you could eat breakfast in the room (oatmeal, cereal, etc...) that would save as well. I don't know that off-property dining will be a whole lot cheaper than the CS meals at Disney.

[BrerGnat]

Stay Value.

Skip the dining plan.

There are a lot of ways to cut costs, but staying off site, to me, isn't worth the savings. You would still have to find a way to the hotel from the airport, which costs $$$. If you rent a car, then you have to pay daily parking fees (more $$$).

You can bring food for in room breakfasts, bring filtered refillable water bottles to cut down on spending on drinks in the parks, split meals, skip buying souvenirs, skip park hopping, etc.

I have taken some CHEAP WDW trips in my time. It can be done, but you have to be disciplined.

And, finally, the dining plan does NOT save you money. Disney wouldn't sell something unless it benefited them financially. It's a marketing gimmick and nothing more. You will always come out ahead paying OOP, espeically on the QS plan (just skip that CS dessert and soda at each meal).

[PETE FROM NYC]

You can get a room at Knights Inn, on 192, just past the WDW entrance. They have bus service, but I don't know how good it is. If I remember correctly, the rooms have a small fridge and microwave. They also have a free continental breakfast of donuts and coffee and juice. Or go to Ponderosa down the block for a buffet breakfast for $5-6 pp. The place ain't great, but its clean and cheap. DW and I have stayed there a few times for our first night, before our reservation starts.

[Janmac]

Our trip costs seem equal between getting to and from Disney, lodging, food, and park tickets, figuring per person costs. (Others may vary :D ) For a really cheap trip, I try to reduce all four of those items.

Our recent trip, in February, was one of those el cheapo trips.

We drove, but used Disney's gas while on property.

Reducing food costs: We ate counter service places with the combo meals - like the ribs and chicken at Flametree at AK. DH and I and a kid successfully split this meal. We skip the soda and fill our water bottles at fountains. We're not big on snacks, either.

We also eat a salad or other appetizer for supper rather than an entree, not only because it's less expensive, but because it's less food. I remember someone asking about splitting an entree and I don't recall that answer.

Reducing park tickets cost: On our last trip we had 4 day tickets for a 7 day trip and actually had a great time on our non-park days. One of our best trips - relaxing, we checked out other resorts, especially at lunch, hung out at the pool. And still saw everything we wanted to at the parks.

Lodging: basically free as my sister exchanged her timeshare points for a DVC villa. Without that, I'd check with Magical Journeys (link at left at ICOT sponsors) for room only deals from Disney, AAA or even Visa. Are you military or a teacher? Check out Shades of Green or the Swan/Dolphin.

Jan

[Hog]

Well we are doing a budget trip this year. It will be our first trip off property. By staying off property we are saving about $100 a night and we get free hot breakfast. We are also going for 12 days but splitting our trip by renting a car and only spending 7 days in Disney the rest we are going to drive to a beach. We also saved about $300 by flying into Tampa airport.

We will do as others suggested by splitting meals inside the park, but we will also be leaving the park some days to eat outside the park. We will get a better meal for the same price. I am sure there will be some hassles but we are willing to try it out to save money and it will be a different experience. I am excited about this trip and It will also decide if we will ever stay off property again on future trips.

[minnie04]

We have done both. On and off property. I would say we have saved more staying off property and also had more room in the hotel. We only book condo places now with more than one full bedroom. We usually cook a big breakfast for everyone. This way we are not spending a lot in the parks for food. The kids are older now and they usually don’t care to get junk (food) in the park. So we can hold out until everyone is really hungry which comes late afternoon. We grab a counter meal usually Cosmic Ray's and that will hold us till late evening. Then we either make a big meal in the condo while the kids (teens) shower or go hang out and it works out perfect. We have never been the sit down to dinner family when we go to WDW, the kids have always traveled with (large groups) cousins, team mates, family , friends etc. so the last thing they wanted to do was sit down to a long dinner. The quicker the meal the better, so they could go play and hang out..

As far as buses we have never had a problem getting to and from the parks with plenty of time to spare. In the last few years I think the off property hotels/condos have gotten better at bus service.

If we are doing a quick weekend we will try and stay on property, just because not everyone in the family will go and we will have enough room. Plus I love being on property. Lol it’s just hard to justify paying over $200 a night in a resort and only having two beds, To spending $200 for the 3 bedroom 2 bath, full kitchen etc. resort that is very well kept.. We now have our favorites and will keep using them each time the whole family goes..

[eandrsmom]

We drive and stay off property. We get a condo with a full kitchen. The first day, I go to the grocery store and stock up on breakfast items, bottled water, and light snacks. We still eat out for many meals, and have found some off property restaurants that have become our favorites and are less expensive. As our children have gotten older, our touring habits have changed, so staying off property actually works well for us. When we were on property, we'd get up early for park opening, eat lunch, then head back for afternoon naps. Now, we sleep late, I make a full breakfast/brunch, then we head to the parks. We stay until closing most nights, but sometimes we leave and go out to dinner off property. For us, it has made things much more relaxing, and a lot less expensive. Just be sure to do an online map search to make sure that the offsite property is close to WDW. Many times, off property places aren't accurate in their descriptions about their distance to the parks.