Deals on Disneyworld?? for a LARGE family?

Question

my husband & I have been wanting to take our children to Disneyworld for a really long time. The problem is we have 5 children and almost no budget! We have to make absolutely sure we spend as little as possible. The problem is there will probably be a total of 9 of us going and my husband & I really want all the kids to be with us. There is no hotel that will let all of us in one room, and if we seperate he would have to be in a room with a couple kids and I would have to. Not really the ideal situation for a "family" vacation. I know there are probably timeshares & stuff, but I really can't afford that. If I was willing to drive down do you think it would be possible to do the disney experience for under $5,000? Where can a family my size stay? What is the absolute CHEAPEST way to do disney when you are on an EXTREMELY tight budget? Is disneyworld.com as cheap as it gets? I am very sorry to bombard you all with so many questions, but I would very much appreciate your info. Thank you!

Answer 1

A couple of other ideas:

Fort Wilderness cabins sleep 6.  You could see if they'd let you add a child.  http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw/res...

You could get adjoining rooms.  We had my sister's and my family in adjoining rooms and we just left the door between the rooms open a lot.  

One other thing - if you or your husband (or any adult you are going with) is a teacher or nurse, you can get a really big discount at the Swan or Dolphin which are on Disney property.  We stayed for $99 a night in a $300 plus room.  I think it has gone up since then, but they still have the discount.  Also, they have suites that sleep 10.  I don't know about discounts on the suites.  Call them for information.

http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw/res...

There are also discounts for military or retired military personnel.  They also have a hotel for military, Shades of Green, at Disneyworld.

http://www.disneymilitarysales.com/pdf/W...

http://www.shadesofgreen.org/home.html

Answer 2

There are several factors that could determine your cost.  Since you can drive, this eliminates Air Fare and opens up Non-Disney properties to you, you just have to calculate fuel costs.  So depending on how long you are there under $5000 is very obtainable.  

One thing is how Disney does their tickets.  The longer you stay the cheaper it is per day, with the bigger discounts starting for 3 or more days.

For example: If you had 5 Adults(10+) and 4 Kids(3-9)

Total for 4 day base tickets: $1772

Total for 5 day base ickets: $1791

Total for 6 day base tickets: $1809

So you can see just for the tickets it would cost a total of $37 for 2 more days.

That is for the "Base" ticket, which allows entry into 1 park per day.  They also have other options that cost extra, but if cost is a factor you can decide against them.  These include the Park Hopper Option, which allows you to go between parks on the same day.  The Water Park option, which gives you entry into the 2 water parks as well as Disney Quest.  Then the No Expiration option, which basically allows your unused days to never expire.

You are probably not going to get away from at least 2 rooms.  Unlike tickets that are the same price, the loging price can vary depending on the time of year.  Basically think that when kids are out of school the cost will be more.

Disney World does have "Family Suites" at the All Star Resort, which is a Value resort(In price ranges it is the lowest cost resorts).  These are not huge rooms as compared to the higher cost resorts, but are a good choice.  They are listed at 5-6 people, but you would have to see if they could do 7 in one room.

Another item to think about is a Hotel Room with a kitchen.  This can help you cut down on Food Costs.

AAA and Costco can sometimes be cheaper than Disney Travel.  Also, below is a link mousesavers.com that can give you some other discount ideas.

Answer 3

Due to the parks popularity, there is little chance to get a better deal than what you get directly from Disney. If you are a member of AAA or a discount club (like Costco or Sam’s Club) you can try their travel services to see if you get a better deal. Disney has a limited number of hotel rooms and because of the benefits (able to go into certain parks, on certain days early or stay late. Free transportation between the hotel and the parks, etc.) they will not get any lower than that.  There are pros and cons to staying on and off property.

Off property:

Pros:

• Cost per room per night is a lot less. The farther from the park the less you pay.

• Since you are driving in, it gives you flexibility. You don’t have to wait for a bus, boat, etc. and you do not have to worry about there not being enough space.

• Might be able to get better/larger rooms for same price.

• You can eat at nearby restaurants and save money by not using on property restaurants.

• Some offer free shuttles to the parks.

Cons:

• Quality is hit or miss.

• You will have to fight other tourist trying to get into and out of the parks.

• Parking can be time consuming.

• You will have to pay for parking. ($11 per day. It adds up quickly)

• Their free shuttles usually only run at certain times and will affect how early you get there, how late you can stay and how long you can stay at the parks that day.

On Property:

Pros:

• On certain days of the week you are allowed early admission to certain parks. Also you will be allowed to stay late on certain days.

• Once you get to a Disney hotel, you do not have to drive between parks. They provide free transportation. Save you money on gas.

• You don’t have to pay to park if you decide to use your car.

• Their hotels are above average or better.

• Good/great customer service.

Cons

• You do pay more for convenience.

• Rooms really don’t offer anything more than most hotels (as far as room size, beds, etc.)

• Sometimes the free transportation can get full and might have to wait for two or three busses to get back to hotel.

In the end you have to see what you can and can’t afford. But little things can help you along the way.

1- Have a budget. Include souvenirs. It is easy to get caught up in the moment and spend too much.

2- Bring your own snacks. You would be surprise how expensive snacks at the theme parks and hotels can be. Think convenience store prices and the bump it up a little.

3- Eat before you go to the park! Food is expensive and an empty stomach is your enemy. You will easily spend $10-15 just on snacks.

Answer 4

You might try Disneyland. . It may be less expensive. .

Me, Wife, and 3 Children went for 3 days for 2,000

Try a travel agent. . A local one would be best. . Do not try to on-line ones such as travalocity or whichever, because the smaller local dealers are more help when it comes to personal needs and a little cheaper.

Answer 5

The good part about Disney vacations is that they do have something for just about every price range--you could look into the All Star value resorts, though I am not sure if they would have accommodations for everyone without getting a few different rooms.  However, many hotels in Orlando do offer a free shuttle to Disney every day, so a lot of people find it a good way to save money to just stay outside Disney and take the shuttle in the morning.  If you plan on staying in the parks all day, there is really no reason why you should need to be staying at a hotel within Disney World.

Since you say that you'll have nine people going, I would definitely look into group ticket purchases.  According to the Disney World website, any group vacation of 8 or more qualifies as a "Grand Gathering," with all kinds of benefits involved.  So when you call, just mention your party size and ask about Grand Gatherings!  I have included a link to the Grand Gatherings page as my web resource.

Have fun :)

Answer 6

Go on the inter-net and look up "Florida Time Share Promotions"

I live in Florida and have all my life. My husband and I take our two toddler grandchildren over to Orlando at least twice a year and we always book at a time share that is offering a promotion. You can get some great deals and all you have to do is take a 90 minute tour of the timeshare. We stayed in a two bedroom timeshare last fall and got two tickets to Universal Studios along with the package (we chose them instead of Disney tickets). We got 3 nights and 4 days along with the tickets for $129. total.

We are going in June and we are staying for 3 night/4 days at a time share and the total cost is $99. But we aren't asking for any tickets this time and we don't have to go to a presentation.

You can also try the web site called "Destination Orlando", they have some great deals too.

If you need any more info, just send me an e-mail and I will send you links if I can.