Overwhelmed with the cost

[Lizzie]

Planning our next trip to DW. We haven't been since 2007. We went from tickets for just the husband and I since the twins were free to a family of six. I am shocked by the prices.

We are looking at going in the fall of 2014. It looks like end of August beginning of September is the best price range to go. Are their traditionally specials offered at that time. Last time we went we had free dinning my husband loved that.

Trying to prepare my husband for what to save for but not sure if we can go if there aren't traditionally discounts at that time.

Help and advice would be appreciated.

[faline]

You may want to look at booking two adjoining rooms in a value resort - that will likely be the least expensive on-site option for your family.

For the best chance of a discount, work with Magical Journeys (http://yourmagicaljourneys.com/). They will get you the best room rate possible and will apply any discounts if, and when, they become available.

To save money, you might consider eating breakfast in your room and bringing snacks into the parks with you. If you previously had park-hopper tickerts, you might want to consider getting tickets that allow only one park per day. It night require a bit more planning but it'll save you money.

Will you have a car? Eating off-site might also save you some money.

Hope it all works out for you!!

[MargaretMessler]

That is a time when there are traditionally discounts offered, but it seems they are getting away from the free dining and instead offering package discounts instead. Which might work out to be more of a savings, depending on your eating habits and the ages of your children. I know I prefer it.

[stephicakes]

I know it has been mentioned in other threads as well, but we always find it helpful to buy Disney gift cards here and there in the months leading up to the trip (or request them as gifts for bdays, etc). It's always great to be able to pull those out to pay for souvenirs or CS food during our stay. Then it doesn't seem like you have to have a huge chunk of cash saved up beforehand. :spend: They come in handy! :)

[lawgirl]

Depending on your situation, you might look into DVC point rental as well. You could get a 2 room villa. But then, it might be better for you to do a package if you are planning on doing the parks every day, and depending on your eating habits...we have been doing the DVC rentals, and we usually eat breakfast in the room, and only pick 2-3 nice sit down meals. And we usually only do 1-2 park days per trip. It saves alot of money if you can do breakfast in the room, and also bringing your own snacks as well.

I also try to buy gift cards before each trip, starting months before. It is a good way to budget out each month without spending a huge amount all at once. Or look into getting a Disney Visa and building up Disney dollars.

It is expensive, but we've always managed to keep the costs down. Hope that helps!

[BrerGnat]

If your kids are relatively young still, you can stay in a suite at Art of Animation for a decent price at the end of August/Beginning of September.

Two connecting rooms might be slightly cheaper, but there is always the off chance that you will NOT get connecting rooms, even when Disney "guarantees" it.

You can save a little bit of money by not purchasing "length of stay" tickets. For instance, if you will be there 7 days, don't buy 7 day passes. Just buy 4 or 5 day passes (non hopper) and spend the other two days at the pool, or at Downtown Disney, etc. When you are talking about 6 people, that little bit of savings adds up.

I know it must be quite a shock, but you are a party of 6 now. Everything is going to cost more than it did when you were only 2 paying adults. ;)

[joonyer]

First of all remember that it has been 6 years since 2007. Prices have steadily climbed since then. And in addition you are essentially paying for 3 times as big a family as you previously did. Even with no inflation, that's going to be a big increase. We have found, even with a family of 4 (2 teenagers) that a WDW vacation is a much more costly vacation than a lot of other options for us, but we still love to go. We have to really budget and save to be able to afford to go, staying at values and scrimping on our food spending. We drive to WDW and bring a lot of food with us for breakfast & snacks in the room and share CS meals when we can. I can feel your pain. It's worth it to make the family memories though.

[Lizzie]

I think we want to do a minimum of ten days since I don't see us doing another trip anytime soon.

And the reality is our kids are still young so instead of setting dates I think we need to be flexible on when we go and look for dates have that have the special offers.

Initially I wanted to have the dates set far in advance so we can make reservations as soon as they open (with a house of four girls they would love to eat at the Castle)

[BrerGnat]

I think we want to do a minimum of ten days since I don't see us doing another trip anytime soon.

And the reality is our kids are still young so instead of setting dates I think we need to be flexible on when we go and look for dates have that have the special offers.



This is a good strategy. Take advantage of not having to worry about school schedules and go when it's Value season. There are usually discounts offered to bring people in during the less busy times of year. Planning far in advance typically does not save you any money, as most discounts are rather last minute. You can see if there is a time that would ideally work for you, book it, and then adjust if a discount comes along. I would suggest booking a ROOM ONLY reservation because your chances of a discount are much higher on those types of bookings. Perhaps buy the park passes slowly over time to help it not seem like such a huge expense.

As for eating in the Castle...you do know that will set you back around $400 or so, right? Not exactly a cost savings right there! ;)

[Lizzie]

Thanks. I do know the castle is expensive. We figure this next trip is the right age to do it once. My husband really likes the dinning plan and eating out. And since he is the one that doesn't want to go as much and its something he likes. We plan on doing that.

[MN_Dad]

I have not done the math yet but, I find it hard to believe TIW will be a better deal for us, a family of 5. We eat breakfast in the room, then a counter service and a table service every day. Even though the dining is not as good of a deal as it once was, it still seems like it will be the best deal for my family. I will need to do some calculations.

[MelissaW]

I know it has been mentioned in other threads as well, but we always find it helpful to buy Disney gift cards here and there in the months leading up to the trip (or request them as gifts for bdays, etc). It's always great to be able to pull those out to pay for souvenirs or CS food during our stay. Then it doesn't seem like you have to have a huge chunk of cash saved up beforehand. :spend: They come in handy! :)

Also - I don't know if your school does SCRIP fundraising, but if it does, this is a great deal. You can purchase Disney SCRIP, making money for your school as well as saving ahead for Disney. It's a win/win. We do that for all of our Disney trips and we wind up making money for our school, our own school fees as well as saving and then wind up paying ahead for our entire trip. No credit card bill waiting for us a month after we get home! :mickey:

[Davy Crockett]

I see a lot of excellent suggestions being posted, you may want to look into the cabins at Fort Wilderness as an alternative to 2 rooms at a value resort. This will allow you as much or more room along with a full kitchen and dining area for less money than 2 rooms during the travel time your looking at.

[faline]

I see a lot of excellent suggestions being posted, you may want to look into the cabins at Fort Wilderness as an alternative to 2 rooms at a value resort. This will allow you as much or more room along with a full kitchen and dining area for less money than 2 rooms during the travel time your looking at.

What the cabins will not offer is two bathrooms which might be important to a large family.

[Mrs Bus Driver]

I have not done the math yet but, I find it hard to believe TIW will be a better deal for us, a family of 5. We eat breakfast in the room, then a counter service and a table service every day. Even though the dining is not as good of a deal as it once was, it still seems like it will be the best deal for my family. I will need to do some calculations.

I agree for my family dinning if also the better deal, however 2 deserts every day is to much. I found I could substitute a fruit at counter service and/or fruit salad at dinner. The fruit at counter service is packaged and travels well and they well put the fruit salad in a container for you. :mickey:

[Lizzie]

What is TIW?

[eandrsmom]

It's Tables in Wonderland. I purchased it several years ago, so my information may not be accurate. It's a discount card that AP and Florida residents can purchase that takes a percentage off participating restaurant's bill. For a family of six, 18% gratuity is automatically added to the bill, so we found that the 20% off basically offset the gratuity charge. If you're looking to save money on your trip, you may want to look off property, especially if you're going to have a car. For us, it is the only way to go. Tickets are basically a fixed cost, although we do use a ticket vendor. Meals can vary depending on the habits of your family. We have some "must do" restaurants that we visit, but we tend to eat breakfast in our condo. For us, the most comfortable, reasonably cost lodgings are off property and the best way to cut costs.

[Tekneek]

For a family of six, the rate at Port Orleans Riverside we got for October/November was better than any other on-property combination we could try to come up with. It is easily the most expensive trip we've ever had, and one of them is still free.

[Lizzie]

For a family of six, the rate at Port Orleans Riverside we got for October/November was better than any other on-property combination we could try to come up with. It is easily the most expensive trip we've ever had, and one of them is still free.

Can a family of six stay in one room at Port Orleans Riverside?

[eandrsmom]

I think that only applies to an infant in a crib. We actually had six at the Poly when my daughter was an infant. Once she was older, she had to be counted in the occupancy count, so we had to get something larger or two connecting rooms.

[Tekneek]

Can a family of six stay in one room at Port Orleans Riverside?

I was wrong, and eandrsmom is correct. This is only good for 5 plus child younger than 3 years old. The choices on property do get expensive after that, although I think family suites at All Star Music are the next step up in price.

You might consider whether staying off property works for you, in combination with the purchase of an Annual Pass for one of you (for the free parking). I know there are places off property that will sleep 6 and might be had for less than $100 a night (including fees and taxes). We will be staying at one for a night this fall and could let you know what our experience is like. Eating as much of your own food as you can is a significant money saver, and a time saving benefit as well. If you really want to stay on property, dealing with Magical Journeys would be a good route. They will stay on top of discounts/promotions/etc for you. If you are considering off-property solutions, Magical Journeys will not be able to help with that portion.

[susquehannaretriever]

I know what I am going to suggest is a shock, and probably a sin, but why not consider renting a vacation home off property (GASP, 'DID HE JUST ACTUALLY SUGGEST THAT?!?!). From what I am seeing, it seems SOOOO much more economical for a family of 6. Just sayin'......

[Tekneek]

I know what I am going to suggest is a shock, and probably a sin, but why not consider renting a vacation home off property (GASP, 'DID HE JUST ACTUALLY SUGGEST THAT?!?!). From what I am seeing, it seems SOOOO much more economical for a family of 6. Just sayin'......

Depending on how many days you're going to the parks, it might be. This is one of those things where there are no easy answers and the best choice depends on the circumstances of each situation.

[mom2morgan]

It IS crazy, isn't it? But you are going at a wonderful time of year. We went this September and in addition to getting free dining, it was quite low crowds and absolutely beautiful. My fondest memory is getting out of the pool after dark, and still being warm enough to sit dripping wet in a deck chair. Where I live you can't even do that on the hottest day of summer - the sun goes down and it is instantly cool. I think you CAN cut costs - especially if you are willing to stay off property - but we decided that we wanted the full on experience. That meant 2 rooms at a Moderate. All told, WITH air fare, it was about $11,000 for our family of 4. (one daughter is an adult).

[MNNHFLTX]

I know what I am going to suggest is a shock, and probably a sin, but why not consider renting a vacation home off property (GASP, 'DID HE JUST ACTUALLY SUGGEST THAT?!?!). From what I am seeing, it seems SOOOO much more economical for a family of 6. Just sayin'......You definitely get more bang for your buck if you do a vacation rental, especially if you'll have a car to drive to the parks. Just want to point out that one of INTERCOT's sponsors is Allstar Vacation Homes (http://www.allstarvacationhomes.com/index.asp); they have some beautiful rental homes.