Disneyworld on the cheap....

Is that even possible? Lol.

Is it best to go through expedia, priceline etc... or a travel agent, or the hotel itself.

What is your opinion/experience?

Disneyworld on the cheap....

I think a value hotel during a free dining promotion would be pretty cheap and for that I would use an agent. If you're going with a group, house rentals work out to ridiculously low prices. My friends recently got a five bedroom house for like 900 a week. Each couple or family took one room aso you can see how cheap that was.

Re: Disneyworld on the cheap....

Re: Disneyworld on the cheap....

Re: Disneyworld on the cheap....

I've done ALL kinds of Disney trips, from as cheap as possible on a college student budget to Deluxe accommodations and signature dining. Some tips to keep costs down:

1) Choose when you go wisely. Disney has different "seasons" and prices can range quite a bit for the same hotel on different dates
2) Go when there is a good promotion. Free Dining hasn't been offered yet for 2013, but there have been great Stay, Play, and Dine discounts that save money.
3) Think about what you want to eat. I've done trips where we brought granola bars and pop tarts and shared quick service meals to save money. For some people the dining plan is great savings. it just depends on how much you plan to eat and what your budget is.
4) Good planning- not just with dates, and food, but with getting the right tickets and also not breaking the bank for souvenirs. For example, there is a disneystore.com sale going on right now that has 25% off, and much of it is on the exact same merchandise you find in the parks. If you can anticipate costs you can save up for them. If you don't plan well, you can end up spending lots of extra $.

There are other little tricks to saving money as well, such as getting gift cards at target, etc.

Re: Disneyworld on the cheap....

I'm def interested in the hopper passes to cover the whole world of Disney. But I don't necessarily have to stay at a Disney resort. A hotel outside of Disney is just fine if that has an impact on the rates.

As for food, im good for McDonald's, Dunkin donuts for breakfast, lunch grab a slice of pizza or sandwich in the park, and dinner wherever.

Re: Disneyworld on the cheap....

Food is very expensive at WDW, even the "quick" food. You can pack food and drinnks to bring in the park, you just can't bring hard sided coolers. I would eat breakfast in the room, that saves money. Character dining is very expensive. You can see the characters for free in the park, so if you are on a budget, I wouldn't bother, unless you get a package with free dining.

By the time you rent a car and pay for parking, it might be less expensive to stay at a value resort. The shuttles off site are just not that reliable. When you stay at a WDW resort, you get free transportation to/from the airport and to/from the parks.

You don't need a park hopper, that allows you to visit multiple parks in one day. You just need a regular park ticket, which is cheaper.

We are going in April for my niece's birthday, just for a long weekend. We are staying at a value and it's averaging $135 a night, but that is peak season. There is nothing wrong with the value resorts, kids love them. But they are no frills, and the rooms are not that big. Kids do not know the difference though, and really don't care. We stayed at a deluxe in December and the cost was about 3 times the price of the value.

Re: Disneyworld on the cheap....

I have stayed at this hotel 2 times.

Its really great each time we paid around 100 a night. Separate bedroom and full kitchen, which is great for making meals and saving money. Its very close to disney, they also offer free breakfast every morning which is great too for saving money. There is a beautiful pool too



Melia Hotel

Message edited 2/20/2013 12:34:24 PM.

Re: Disneyworld on the cheap....

stay in a value resort (under $100 a night - depending on when you go) We did all star movies! no complaints....It's no value...but we were happy!

we also did free dining..and if not (order from gardengrocer.com - order stuff for breakfast and lunch to make and bring..then you just have to worry about dinner out!)

no rental car...use the transportation -no complaints here either!

Disneyworld on the cheap....

I would look into staying in a timeshare offsite - they offer good deals at certain times and your unit will have a kitchen so you can prepare a good deal of your own food.

You don't need to get park hopper passes to access all of Disney - you can get a regular pass and have access to one park each day.