The elimination of WPM priced us out! HELP

[Serrina89]

I finally convinced my mom and stepfather to take a trip to WDW and the elimination of WP&M priced us out ---Im not giving up though! My family doesn't make a lot of money, but I thought if i could save up enough money to cover our hotel costs, then it would be affordable for my parents to pay for tickets, food, and airfare........I thought we could do a 4 - 5 day pass with WPM to add something else to do for the other days but now that's eliminated. A hundred dollars a person extra seems a lot when only one water park may be open and Disney Quest closed.

For reference the people going: DM, DSF, Me (28), Dsis (11), Dsis (21)*maybe able to contribute ticket or airfare, Dsis (26) - will pay for her portion and get her own room, and possibly DH (27). Others may go but I wouldn't be responsible for contributing.

The plan is to stay on property in a value. We really want to stay in the bubble so although we may have to consider staying off property (would need to rent a car). Can you give me some tips on cutting corners as far as flights and tickets, airfare, and hotels?

 

[Carrie Ellis]

When are you planning on going?

 

[scrapquitler]

Instead of buying the WP&M option, just add more park days to your tickets. The difference between a 4 day ticket and an 8 day ticket is less than $50 per person. (4 days is $404. plus tax, 8 days is $452. plus tax). Plan a resort day at the pool and maybe a day at Disney Springs to stretch things out if you don't want to go to the parks more days.

The best way to save money on meals is to eat quick service, bring your own snacks and breakfast foods to eat in the room. Staying offsite can save you a bunch on hotels, but you'll have to consider that you'll most likely need to rent a car (maybe two for that many people) and pay for parking at the parks if you do that.

 

[Serrina89]

When are you planning on going?

We are planning on going in early August. We unfortunately have to go when my ll year old sister is out of school.

Instead of buying the WP&M option, just add more park days to your tickets. The difference between a 4 day ticket and an 8 day ticket is less than $50 per person. (4 days is $404. plus tax, 8 days is $452. plus tax). Plan a resort day at the pool and maybe a day at Disney Springs to stretch things out if you don't want to go to the parks more days.

The best way to save money on meals is to eat quick service, bring your own snacks and breakfast foods to eat in the room. Staying offsite can save you a bunch on hotels, but you'll have to consider that you'll most likely need to rent a car (maybe two for that many people) and pay for parking at the parks if you do that.

I saw that going to the parks for longer was cheaper---my sis was hoping on visiting the water park though :-/. We'll definitely be eating at quick service.

 

[kymom99]

We are planning on going in early August. We unfortunately have to go when my ll year old sister is out of school.



I saw that going to the parks for longer was cheaper---my sis was hoping on visiting the water park though :-/. We'll definitely be eating at quick service.

Could you just have some of your group buy waterpark tickets? For example, my husband and I would rather just hang at the hotel pool but my son would like the waterpark. Maybe you could take your sis to the waterpark and the parents could hang at the pool or visit hotels for the day.

 

[Marionnette]

I finally convinced my mom and stepfather to take a trip to WDW and the elimination of WP&M priced us out ---Im not giving up though! My family doesn't make a lot of money, but I thought if i could save up enough money to cover our hotel costs, then it would be affordable for my parents to pay for tickets, food, and airfare........I thought we could do a 4 - 5 day pass with WPM to add something else to do for the other days but now that's eliminated. A hundred dollars a person extra seems a lot when only one water park may be open and Disney Quest closed.

For reference the people going: DM, DSF, Me (28), Dsis (11), Dsis (21)*maybe able to contribute ticket or airfare, Dsis (26) - will pay for her portion and get her own room, and possibly DH (27). Others may go but I wouldn't be responsible for contributing.

The plan is to stay on property in a value. We really want to stay in the bubble so although we may have to consider staying off property (would need to rent a car). Can you give me some tips on cutting corners as far as flights and tickets, airfare, and hotels?

The WPM option has not been eliminated completely. You just cannot get it without buying park hopping. Just taking a quick look at pricing, the cost of a 4-day adult base ticket is $405. The price tag for a 4-day hopper plus is $511. So, $105 more for 4 water park days and 4 park days. That's a lot until you consider that a 1-day water park ticket is $64 for an adult. With 2 water park visits, you're ahead. And you get park hopping, too! The prices could be better if purchased from one of the online ticket sellers.

Of course, this doesn't address the elephant in the room, which is the enormous price for tickets. For most people, ticket costs exceed the cost of food, airfare or hotel rooms. If your sister and her family are the only ones who want to do water parks while the rest of the family is happy to stay at the hotel pool, then she can add the "hopper plus" to her tickets when you arrive.

If one of you has a Disney Visa card, there is a *free* dining offer that could be a money saver. It started a while ago, so availability could be sparse but it is offered for dates beginning August 2, 2018. There are also room-only discounts for those dates which might suit your mom and stepfather better than a dining plan would if they are getting their own room.

An AoA or ASMu family suite might be a good choice for some family members to share. The suites have sleeping for 6 people and 2 bathrooms. The added value is the kitchenette, which includes a microwave. You can save on breakfasts, prepare lunches for pool days and even heat up a microwave dinner for everyone. The suites cost just about the same as two rooms in a value resort and when the sofa bed and chair beds are not opened, you have a living room area to chill out in.

I can't help with airfare other than to say that if you are planning to go in early August, you will want to get a move on. Airfare prices do not go down as you get closer to the departure date. They actually go up. The general rule is that you should buy 45 days or more before your planned travel for the best prices.

 

[alyssa18o6]

The park hopper plus option allows for the water parks.

 

[kydisneyfans]

Check places like UT or Parksavers for possible combo ticket discounts. UT currently has something on sale for around $60/ticket under Disney prices that may work. While Disney water parks are neat to experience, using the resort pools is a viable option if staying onsite.

As for flying, the only tips would be to not necessarily fly from the closest airport. I am close to Lexington, but Louisville and Cincinnati are each an hour away. We fly out of Cincinnati 75% of the time due to cost, Louisville 25%, and next to never from Lexington. If not SW, plan on bag fees. For Orlando, if you are renting a car and flights are steep, look at flying into Tampa instead. Are you close enough to drive instead?

For food, quick serve is the cheapest option unless you book an offsite condo or rent DVC points from someplace. August is pretty close for renting points though. I'd do a snack/drink delivery to the resort if you don't have a car. If offsite, cook simple meals while in the room(breakfast, etc)

To make Disney itself cheaper, look at the Disney gift card discount thread-I average about 12% off every Disney gift card I buy. That's nearly $250 off on a $2000 expense.

 

[Carrie Ellis]

I have always had to figure how to afford Disney. We have 2 sets of twins. Once they were all considered "adults" by Disney, I had to get creative.

Usually we have family going too. This last time and the next, my oldest set of twins have girlfriends.

I can not do Disney property anymore. Not with all of us. We can pick a REALLY nice VRBO at $500/night and split it with my sister and still come out way ahead.

I love the waterparks but it is not worth the add on, I feel. I would look at a discounted 1 day ticket to one.

Is there anyone in your group military?

I am going Swagbucks like crazy for the next 18 months to cover extras such as meals, Christmas party, etc...
Plus the Disney Visa Rewards

I am buying the $150 Disney Visa gift cards every so often at Samsclub through swags.

I would pull my kids out of school before going in August. We are in Georgia and the humidity is already REALLY bad this year. miserable.

Carrie

 

[nycdisneygal]

If its only a 5 day trip then you may just want to stick to the parks, resort pool and disney springs. There is so much to do in those few days without adding a water park. The values have great pools from what I hear!
Get groceries to save on some food costs.
Play around with what day of week you fly to potentially save money
hope you guys can find a way to go! It would be such a nice family trip!

 

[ClapYourHands]

Where are you flying from? Is driving an option at all?

Have you looked at ALL the carriers in a reasonably drivable radius from your home? An airline like Spirit or Frontier can often give rock bottom prices, if you don't add on a bunch of extras. Like don't pay for seat assignments - it's a few hours of your life, and you don't have little kids, so is it really a problem to sit next to strangers? For luggage, have people combine their things into fewer larger bags to cut down on bag fees (like could you and DH share a suitcase, your mom and SF share one, etc?).

I agree with PP that getting another day added to a base ticket would be a better decision financially than to add park hoppers and waterparks (though you could always buy stand alone waterpark tickets for those who really want to go).

Look into the Disney Springs hotels. You can often find a good deal with them, and you won't need a car. They give you EMH, 60-day FP window, and efficient park transportation. You don't get DME with them, but for the cost of an airport uber, you could potentially save a lot of money over staying onsite. I'm not sure what the availability is for Values now, but there might not be a lot left for August.

 

[coast2coastmickey]

For flights, look at gaming credit card points to help with the cost. Frontier usually has a sign up special worth the cost of 2 round trip domestic tickets after you spend a couple thousand. Google credit card hacking and you can read a bunch of stuff about the subject.

For hotels, don't just limit yourself to on-site. You can get a house with many beds, baths, and a private pool for $100/night. You can get a condo for less than that. These are luxury accomodations just a couple of minutes (literally) outside the Disney gates. If you're talking about reducing costs, that could make more sense. Keep in mind though that you'll have to probably rent a car and pay for parking at Disney, or budget for ubers. Do the math and see what it would actually cost for you. It still could make sense to stay on site.

For tickets, not much discounting to be done here. Best "value" is non-hoppers extended as long as possible, and those are expensive too.

For food, we stay off site, and typically stop at a grocery store to buy enough to eat all breakfasts and snacks from the grocery pile. A hearty breakfasts and many snacks mean you could probably do with just one meal in the parks, and a quick service meal isn't too bad if you budget for it. You could do better than us by just eating grocery food for all food, no Disney food at all. You'll probably end up close to your normal grocery budget if you do that.

No matter how you cut it though, going to Disney costs a ton of money. Literally multiple thousands of dollars. It's not unheard of for people to pay tens of thousands of dollars. It's a luxury. A fun one, but a luxury nonetheless. At the end of the day, all you can do is two things: cut expenses for the trip, and/or increase income to pay for the budgeted expenses. I wish you the best of luck and I hope you find a solution that works for you and your family.

 

[bigbabyblues]

Honestly, it looks like most of your group is adults, and expecting your parents to cover tickets, airfare and food for everyone seems a little unfair. I realize that every family is different, but in our family, that wouldn't fly.

We just returned from a 9-night trip with our family of 4. We needed to save some money this trip in order to make it work. We stayed offsite in a condo at Windsor Palms. I realize that offsite isn't ideal, but it is a lot cheaper for a larger group. We had a 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom condo that slept 7 people and it was $950 all in for 9 nights. We were able to have breakfast in the condo every day, and we had lunch there a couple of times and dinner a couple of times. We also bought tickets from Undercover Tourist right before the price increase in February. They had a 7-day PH for the price of a 6-day PH; I paid $1870 for four 7-day PH tickets. They had the WP option too, but I don't remember the price difference. Buying tickets from UT would also allow only the people who want to go to the WP to pay for the WP option. If you book a package through WDW, everyone has to have the same ticket.

School schedules can be a pain, but does your youngest sister have any school breaks in the fall that would allow more time to save up more money for the trip?

I hope it works out for you!

 

[kymom99]

Another thing I will add. If you can't reasonably afford WP, there is no need to feel bad. Your 11 year old sister doesn't understand how much this trip will cost you. My son one time mentioned he would like to try out the waterparks. I told him they cost too much and he let it go at that.

 

[ClapYourHands]

Buying tickets from UT would also allow only the people who want to go to the WP to pay for the WP option. If you book a package through WDW, everyone has to have the same ticket.

Sort of. You're right about the package, but she doesn't need to buy a package to buy tickets from WDW. If she gets a room-only reservation, she can buy whatever tickets she wants from WDW separately, and they don't all need to be the same.