Tips for keeping cost down for WDW trip

happytravelkids

Earning My Ears
Joined
Sep 30, 2017
Hi guys, it's been a couple of years since I last posted, but I'm hoping to learn from the best (you!) to get some tips for keeping the cost of a WDW trip down (yes, I know it's going still to be very expensive).

Bit of background - we've already done most of the Disney parks (Anaheim, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Shanghai) plus DCL and Aulani - the only two left on our list are Paris and WDW. I've been wanting to go to WDW for a while, but have put it off because of the cost and ages of our kids. Next year they'll be 6 and 11 and I think it will be the right time!

Rough overview of our plans so far:
  • Fly from South Australia to Orlando
  • April or May 2018 (dictated by work commitments)
  • Stay on property at WDW for 10 days - 2 weeks (too long, too short? Advice needed please)
  • Staying at one of the least expensive value resorts (ie. All Star Sports or Movies)
  • Want to do all the Disney parks, both water parks, maybe Universal. Not interested in Sea World or outlet shopping
Questions:
  • Tickets - What did you do? 10 day passes? Annual passes?
  • Any tips on saving on accommodation or tickets? Worth speaking to travel local travel agents or should we just book online?
  • Any other advice for saving $$?
 
Hi happytravelkids,
Do you mind if I PM you with some thoughts?

Oops- I don't think I can PM you until you've done 10 posts! :confused3

Not to worry! We have a trip planned for Sept/Oct next year and I have been sorting through many of the same questions you have written above for some time now. We've used an awesome agency to overcome the whole dilemma of WDW only having a 10-Day max ticket, but I'm just not sure if I can mention it here as it's not a sponsor? Maybe someone can clarify this for me?

Apart from this, the other tip I wanted to note is that Disney have eGiftCards that I've been buying regularly from the Disney Store Online so I can lock in the good exchange rate we've had lately. The 'cards' are emailed to me and I'll just print them and use them in person as spending money when we are there, as they are accepted literally anywhere Disney is ~ WDW, Disney Springs, online bookings with WDW, DLR, DCL....nearly anywhere!
 
Have been twice to WDW twice, we stayed onsite for 14 days, and I don't think it was long enough lol, so much to see and do!
In saying that in the 14 days we made sure we had down time , so that meant a sleep in and maybe going around and visiting some of the other resorts, they are amazing. Spending time at Disney Springs, doing a air boat ride and a visit to Kennedy Space Centre, the Atlantis exhibition is amazing! Also a visit to the outlets, such great bargains to be had.
If I remember we had 7 day park tickets both times, first visit we did add another day there, we did this at the resort, hardly cost anything. We had 3 days at MK, 1 day at HS, 1 day at AK, u might need 2 days there now with the new land open, and we had 2 days at Epcot.
Our first visit was September, we had great weather, it wasn't as hot and humid as normal apparently and we only had one thunderstorm in 2 weeks.
Our second visit was Dec/Jan, was great weather.
Both times we managed to score free dining, so that saved us thousands on food , as it included table service meals, we ate at some fantastic places around WDW.
It is very spread out, so gets tiring. Took me months of planning both times.
We also stayed at Cabana Bay Resort for 5 days, great place, we had 3 day pass for Universal. Lots of cool places to eat at City Walk, we did a different airboat tour when we stayed here in Jan at Wildlife park, it was very good and great to get away from the crowds, we also did the outlets close to Universal and visited the Titanic exhibition, which is now showing in Sydney.
I really enjoyed the time at Cabana Bay and would stay longer there if I went back again.
 


Sorry I forgot , I did the booking all myself on line, and just used to make payments every pay day.
I think it's hard to find a travel agent in Aus who is up to date with Disney, though I do know of one on facebook who is in Sydney and very good, she is over there at the moment
 
we have been to WDW twice. Our first trip was 14 days and was the only Disney we did on that trip. We could have easily done 5 more days, but that would have really been pushing the time and expense. We don't normally have every moment of the day timed out, we have lots of down time and make changes along the way. Perhaps what we do in 14 days others could do in 10, thats just our preferred way of holidaying.

Have you considered renting DVC points from someone? you may find you can get a nicer property for similar price? Certainly renting DVC isn't everyone's cup of tea. We have done it three or four times now and had no issues, but it pays to do your research that's for sure.

if you are looking for a travel agent I have used My Personal Travel Planner and would highly recommend. While I usually book most things myself, Ainsley has helped us out with some tickets I couldn't get online and also booking cruise which gave us on board credit which we wouldn't have got if we booked direct.
 


Rough overview of our plans so far:
  • Fly from South Australia to Orlando
  • April or May 2018 (dictated by work commitments)
  • Stay on property at WDW for 10 days - 2 weeks (too long, too short? Advice needed please)
  • Staying at one of the least expensive value resorts (ie. All Star Sports or Movies)
  • Want to do all the Disney parks, both water parks, maybe Universal. Not interested in Sea World or outlet shopping
Questions:
  • Tickets - What did you do? 10 day passes? Annual passes?
  • Any tips on saving on accommodation or tickets? Worth speaking to travel local travel agents or should we just book online?
  • Any other advice for saving $$?
I'm going to apologise now, because re-reading what I have written, I have probably given you far more options to think about than actually helping you out! So sorry about that! But please feel free to ask more questions where you need to. For us, we are DVC members and go to WDW generally every year. We usually get an annual pass, and try to be clever about how we use it, so we can get two years worth of trips out of it, i.e Go October the first year, and September the second year. Having DVC and AP, we are able to buy Tables in Wonderland to help with food costs. We generally go for 21-24 days because of the travelling, but these days we normally throw in a 4night cruise in the middle, so time at WDW is reduced a little. We do MK, AK, HS, EP, BB and TL, but very rarely go to the other parks (Universal, SeaWorld). We do, however, like a trip, or two, to the Florida Mall and Belz (or whatever its called these days), and freedom on site, so usually have a car. Now for some tips...

Flights: If you haven't booked flights already, start watching them now. We normally start watching from release date (around 12month), as knowing what the general price is helps to better recognise the cheaper deals! If you think you can manage it, consider multi-stops. We managed to get Premium Economy with Air New Zealand, going SYD-AKL-IAH-MCO, for cheaper than their own economy flights, and cheaper again than our usual Delta flights (SYD-LAX-MCO). It pays to watch and wait (if you have the nerve!) Of course, watching and waiting does pose the risk of not finding/missing a cheap option, so it's a bit of a balancing act.

Length of Stay: Even now, on trip 10+, we have not seen and done everything. So, don't try to cram it all in or you will need another holiday after! Lots of families, particularly with children, like to do a park in the morning, go back to the hotel for a swim/rest around lunchtime, then back out again for late afternoon/early evening. We, as three adults, like to do similar, but we also know we will always be back next year, so don't need to rush it. Typhoon and Blizzard can be done in a day, as long as you miss school holidays/spring break. The others you will probably need longer if you aim to do everything. We normally do 3-4wks at WDW because of the travel time. If staying on side, you will have access to Extra Magic Hours, but sometimes this makes parks busier not quieter.
Transport: I don't know how up to date this information is now as I have not done buses for about 10yrs now. I know previously, we have caught the Lynx bus from Disney (Springs or TTC) to the SeaWorld area, and then another, or I-Ride Trolley, up International Drive. There used to be a bus stop opposite Wet 'n' Wild, and from there, Universal is a 10-15min walk, but that depends on heat and humidity, as none of it is under cover! Universal also has three parks now - Universal Studios, Island of Adventure and Volcano Bay (water park), so you might want to consider that. You don't need a car at Disney. Use the ME to get you to and from the airport (it's free), then use the buses, monorails, boats to move around the world. You will, however, have to allow a little extra time to travel between locations when heading out for a meal, particularly if you are going from one resort to another, as you will need to transfer via a park/Springs.

Accommodation: I would do some costings yourself. If you can get a free dining offer with Disney, that may well save you some money. I think the values only offer the value dining plan though, so depending on what you eat, you might want to consider the moderates. As previously mentioned, you can try DVC points renting. We are DVC so accommodation is not an issue for us, so not sure how and where is the best place to go. Of course, if you do your own costing, you can then go to Flight Centre or similar and get them to cost it for you, and see how the prices fair.

Ticket: You need to do some costings again. Magic Your Way tickets are normally one park per day only, with no park hopping or water park options. You normally pay extra to upgrade to park hopping, and upgrade again to get water parks. Park hopping has become considerably more challenging since FastPass+ system was introduced as you can only book FPs in one park. In case you are unaware, you can normally buy an annual pass for the water parks only too, so something else to consider! MYW tickets only go as far as 10-days.

Annual Pass: Consider purchasing if staying longer than 10-days. You also get additional benefits: park hopping included, water parks included, Memory Maker is free (which is a huge saving in itself), merchandise discounts and access to purchase Tables in Wonderland (discount on food in certain table service locations). Tables in Wonderland costs an additional fee ($150?), and you get 20% off select table services, but 18% gratuity is automatically added. If you normally tip, then that becomes irrelevant anyway. Also, not everyone in your party needs an AP to get all those discounts - just the person who is paying for everything! So again, another combo to throw into the mix :rotfl:

Food: If you can get the free dining plan, get it! If it's only available to purchase, think carefully. Depending of food choices, out of pocket can be cheaper than the plan, particularly if you have Tables in Wonderland. There are character dining options inside the parks, and then at some of the resorts as well. Generally speaking, the character dining experiences at the resorts are cheaper than the character dining experiences in the parks, with the exception of big name places like Chef Mickeys. We've also found the resort character dining experiences are not in so much of a hurry to get you in and out again.

Hope I have not confused you too much! Again, happy to answer any additional questions you might now have. :rotfl2:
 
Our two disney trips sounds similar to Living for Disney. Our first family trip to DW was 8 days, because there were 6 of us we ended up geting a 2 bedroom villa, getting the tickets through booking the accommodation through the disney website and was lucky enough to get free dining with that. At first I was not aware of this sight so most my knowledge came from the disney mom panel.
Our second trip we had discovered DVC so we researched that, it cost us the same to buy second hand points that what our previous accommodation costs. So that trip we were able to stay a lot longer - 3.5 weeks at disneyworld by using our points and renting other points. Also by staying at a villa we were able to get groceries delivered and could make meals in the big well stocked kitchen. Now I too, didnt want to spend my time at disney cooking but it was simple things like cereal, yogurts, fruits, bread, sandwich meat and cheese, muesli bars, bottled water, chips etc, so everyone could make themselves breaky, and if they wanted to a snack if it was a lazy day. We are all water drinkers so it saved us heaps to take bottled water with us to the parks instead of buying.

We did an annual pass because DVC members were able to get a discount so it was cheaper to do that then try and get passes for that length of time. If you do get the annual pass that will give you discounts shopping and restaurants. We did mostly quick dining as the kids are fussy and most the time just wanted chicken tenders etc. We did have a few restaurants that we really wanted to do (50s diner we had done before and just had to do again, so much fun, we all loved it) we picked 1 character breakfast, and a few other themed restaurants. That saved us money.

We didnt hire a car and found taxi's were not that expensive compared to catching one here. However, we did have some time offsite and stayed at Cabana Bay (highly recommend) It was cheaper to do all shopping at outlets etc from there than from disney.

I have read a lot of ppl get the disney cards at target usa when they are on sale, I have never done that and not sure if they sell them online. That could be an option if they do, as they often have 10% or more off, that will help with the dollar not being as great.

Make sure you check out when the easter holidays and another they have in May (cant remember what its for - we had it while at aulani last year, that weekend got super packed) if you can try and visit outside of those times, as it will be less crowded. We have only ever been in September, due to cheaper costs as well as less crowds - DH hates to travel and does not do lines - has severe anxiety. so we had to pick a time when it would be the least crowded. It was great, never really had to wait long for rides, the most was 40mins on seven dwarfs ride and probably because it was a new ride back then.

I did a lot of research and did all my booking myself.

Have fun planning your holiday, Disney holiday planning is the best.
 
Oh wow! Thank you everyone for taking the time to share your tips. Super, super helpful!

I hadn't really considered renting DVC points, but I'll definitely look into that - might mean that we can extend our stay a bit longer and save some $$ on meals.

Re tickets - I'll have to do some more detailed calculations, but it sounds like it might be worth getting the annual passes after all considering the extra benefits.

Re food - we're not really big eaters, so the dining plan, while it does sound great - probably not worth it for us.

Thanks again for sharing your experiences everyone. This will be super handy info to have on hand while planning our trip! xx
 
Oh wow! Thank you everyone for taking the time to share your tips. Super, super helpful!

I hadn't really considered renting DVC points, but I'll definitely look into that - might mean that we can extend our stay a bit longer and save some $$ on meals.

Re tickets - I'll have to do some more detailed calculations, but it sounds like it might be worth getting the annual passes after all considering the extra benefits.

Re food - we're not really big eaters, so the dining plan, while it does sound great - probably not worth it for us.

Thanks again for sharing your experiences everyone. This will be super handy info to have on hand while planning our trip! xx

Another advantage to renting DVC is that you will have a kitchenette in the studios, and a kitchen in the 1 bedroom and bigger. That means simple meals, and breakfast can be done in your hotel room without too much hassle. We normally get some cereal and milk to keep for breakfast on days with no buffet or a late night snack (I love cereal at any time of the day!) We are not big eaters either. The large American portions are normally too big, and two counter services between three can sometimes suffice quite well. We tend to do either a buffet breakfast (and take a doggie bag!) or an evening table service meal. TIW helps with that because you just get your discount when you eat rather than having to eat specific meal types everyday like the dining plan requires.

Enjoy your planning - it's half the fun!
 

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