Family of 7 (one too many, ugh)

[ClayJar11]

Ok here is my deal. We are planning on a 12 day disney vacation for May in 2014. I am well aware that thats over a year away , and prices won't be out until May/June. To find a ballpark price for us i looked at similar dates for 2013. For a room to accomidate my family of 7 for only 7 days, let alone 12, (with meal plan) was over 9,000$. I cant seem to justify the cost though. I know all of the perks of staying at Disney, but for a good vacation home for 12 days (3 miles from disney) , it would be roughly 3500$. Add 7 day disney passes (we dont intend do use park hopper), thats around $1700. So that brings my total to $5200. So thats a differance of $3800. For a family on a budget (tho somewhat flexible), Im just not seeing how staying on Disney property works for us. 3800$ more to stay on property ?(the difference of the cost with meal plan vs without semmed minimal)? Now i know alot of this has to do with the size of the family, but does anyone have any thoughts or tips on this?

[pinkviolet]

Hi , I know it sounds like alot, but you will quickly eat the rest of your money up just in transportation costs. you can only put 3 in a cab so you will need 3 of them everywhere you go and if you rent a car, parking is 15.00 a day. You won't have the convience of the Magical Express, put your luggage on the plane and don't have to deal with it again till its in your room. We always stay on Disney property... love it there.

[Metro West]

Welcome!

[MrRomance]

Originally Posted by ClayJar11

Ok here is my deal. We are planning on a 12 day disney vacation for May in 2014. I am well aware that thats over a year away , and prices won't be out until May/June. To find a ballpark price for us i looked at similar dates for 2013. For a room to accomidate my family of 7 for only 7 days, let alone 12, (with meal plan) was over 9,000$. I cant seem to justify the cost though. I know all of the perks of staying at Disney, but for a good vacation home for 12 days (3 miles from disney) , it would be roughly 3500$. Add 7 day disney passes (we dont intend do use park hopper), thats around $1700. So that brings my total to $5200. So thats a differance of $3800. For a family on a budget (tho somewhat flexible), Im just not seeing how staying on Disney property works for us. 3800$ more to stay on property ?(the difference of the cost with meal plan vs without semmed minimal)? Now i know alot of this has to do with the size of the family, but does anyone have any thoughts or tips on this?

I can see your dilemma, but let me offer my 2 cents for you to think about!

Let me start with the on-site / off-site issue. You probably know the general perks of being on-site, but here are a couple you probably haven't thought about...

1. Parking - $15 a day x 12 days ($180)
2. Gas - 7 of you need a mini van, those things are gas guzzlers. If you're clocking up 10+ miles a day just to get to the park, the gas is going to add up REAL QUICK! We stayed on-site and although we did go off-site a few times, it wasn't much. We had to fill our car up twice when we were there for 2 weeks. You gas saving will be significant in my opinion.
3. Dining - You can't go to a park and eat off site without clocking up more gas mileage. The dining plan saves most people money. We added up what our food would have been without the dining plan on our last trip and we saved about $480 (2 adults 1 child) but this will depend on your dining preferences.

By my calculations, you could potentially save around $800-900 on these 3 things alone.

Now to look at your options...

With a party of 7, you're a bit restricted with accommodation. I see 3 options open to you.

1. Rent DVC points and stay at a DVC resort in a 2 or 3 bed villa. Points are usually $10 - 12 each. I don't know how many points you'll need for your dates, but it's worth looking into.

2. Two ajoining hotel rooms or suites is another option. You won't technically be in the same room, BUT you can open the adjoining door and you're fine.

3. Wait for another sale. You might get a better deal.

Hope that helps!

[catherines_mama]

I agree with PP, I think staying on-site is the best option and Renting DVC.

If you rent DVC, you DONT have to do Dining Plan. You can do breakfast and some meals in the room as you'll have a full kitchen. I love eating out and being waited on, but we're doing more cooking in the room as our Family of 5 grows. Our kids are now pre-teens and in WDW eyes "Adults" so feeding them is much more $$.

Previous to buying DVC, we stayed at the MODS and did connecting rooms. Last year I prices out renting and it is a much better deal to rent points then to pay for 2 MOD hotel rooms. Renting DVC was so smooth and so easy and got us hooked on DVC. You can look at resorts that vary in space, atmosphere and cost (how many points for what you want).

The Rent/Trade board here on DIS is great and will be a big help!

[Soarin Hubby]

Welcome.

Merry Christmas to all.

[myzel]

I agree with OP, renting DVC points would be a great way to go, a 2br will sleep 8 or 9 depending on the resort. The other options for price would be 2 adjoining rooms at a value resort.

I will put in a shameless plug for the mouse savers news letter as well they offer good ideas for saving.

[xenon2000]

OP hasn't replied yet. Hopefully because of the holidays. But they didn't mention what Disney park. Are they talking about Disneyland in CA or WDW?

I have no experience with WDW yet. And I only have 2 kids. I have some comments about DL, but not sure that is the park they are planning on.

[Sheaboys]

I would do more research, you can stay on site, in 2 rooms, with Free dining, during value season, for much, much less then $9,000.

We did just that in August 2012, with our family of 7 and we did hoppers and we have 3 kids that are disney adults. It was about $5,200. We stayed in a Moderate resort, could be even less at a Value Resort.