Looking for saving tips for fall '17 trip.

[Los213]

if your going in the fall look out for the "free dining" promotion. It will save you alot of money if your willing to take your kids out of school. The promotion doesn't usually apply to Art of animation but it does apply to other value resorts like pop century and movies. Saving around $1000 and getting food for free is a good way to get your husband to hop onboard.

 

[Marionnette]

So many great ideas, Thanks!
Thats a good idea to share rooms but would they connect? I'm not sure I'd like to be in two completely separate rooms. Our kids will be 9, 7, 6 and 6 next fall. We will be driving from TN. I checked the Disney site for prices next fall and believe now I should check other sources.
Suite at AOA for 6 nights is $387 a night $2616
5 days of 1 park tickets brings it to $4712
Mickey's Halloween party is about $560 for this year but not sure next years prices.
Looking at a total of 5212+ taxes
That's with scratching the dining plan which seems to be the consensus from everyone.

You can request connecting rooms, but they are not guaranteed. Since minors cannot be the lead name on a reservation, there would need to be 2 adults - one for each of the rooms. If Disney could not honor the request for connecting rooms, one adult would have to stay in each room.

 

[wendow]

You are awesome! Great advice. I'm sitting down this afternoon to create ways to save better. I'm very curious about the two value rooms idea. How did you do it? Do you feel like you were vacationing with half your family?

We request connecting rooms and so far, we have always been given them. It is not guaranteed but very, very likely they can accommodate the request.

 

[kymom99]

You can also hold off on the Halloween party tickets. See if you have enough saved and if not, just cut that out. The parks will still be decorated for fall

 

[goofy's_gurl]

I suggest connecting rooms that will save you a lot of money. Every time we requested connecting rooms, we've been granted them. Plus, it'll give you some extra space to and your kids will be able to go from one room to another.

I also noticed someone also said look at the deals on sites such as Expedia, Orbitz, and the like. Sometimes you can find a great deal on a on-site hotel there also.

Personally, the way I look at it when I am saving for Disney is figure out your dates (even if they are very flexible) and figure out how much you have to have in order to go on vacation and divide that by how many days you have until you go, that number should be very small and it will not feel as if the world is crashing down.

 

[AutismMom2006]

We are a one-income family, also. We have five so we can't stay in a standard room, either. I looked at Fort Wilderness cabins through Disney web site the price is pretty close to Art of Animation (at least for summer, we are limited to summer as my DH is a teacher). It has a fridge and kitchen and sleeps 6, I was thinking of staying there and cooking my own simple meals in the cabin might be a cost-saving strategy depending on how much I can save. I opened a Disney Vacation Account through Disney web site. I had some gift money to put in there to start but I also shop once a week at Walmart with cash and am able to buy one or more $25 Disney Gift Cards along with my groceries, those can be added to the account online. In about two months I've managed to save $1,000, which I would have thought impossible when I started saving. At first I thought we can only stay off-site (better than not going at all, IMHO) but I'm saving way more than I thought and we won't go until summer '18 when DS is 4.5 y.o. Don't give up on your Disney Dreams!

 

[erinmomof2]

If you want to go in the fall, Disney almost always has free dining. It would mean pulling your kids out of school, but if you're okay with that it would save you a lot of money. Yes you would pay rack rate for the room, but with six people eating for free I still think you would come out ahead. The only issue could be that Art of Animation is not usually part of the promotion, but you could try for two connecting rooms in a value resort. Our family loves having the dining plan, but we have only gone during free dining, I don't think I would pay for it since I am sure we could eat less expensively on our own. But for us, if we are able to get it free it beats any room discount we've seen for our travel dates.

I will also add, that I am a stay at home mom and I save a good chunk of our vacation money myself. I take out all my weekly money in cash (money for gas, groceries, misc expenses) and whatever I have left at the end of the week gets added to the Disney fund. Sometimes the amount left is pretty low, but other weeks it's pretty good. I aim for at least $20 a week, but I'm often able to do more than that. I also shop at a grocery store that has a rewards program, like spend $100 in a month and they give you $5 off your next order, or spend $30 in produce for the month get $3 off your next order. I generally do several of these promotions each month and at the end of the month I use all the money back to buy a Disney gift card. This week I bought a $25 gift card and only spent about $10. It's not a lot of money but it adds up. We also save change. That doesn't add up to a ton, but it's probably a couple hundred dollars each trip. I use that for souvenir money. I'm also just getting back into swagbucks, and I like that. I don't earn nearly as much as other people on here, but every little bit helps. If you do online shopping remembering to shop through swagbucks, ebates, or mypoints to get the points/cash back, is really easy and takes no effort.

We also have a certain amount come out of each of my husband's paycheck to go towards vacations. And regardless of where we go on vacation, I always spend a bit of time shopping around to find the best price. We love to travel, but could not afford to do so often if we had to pay full price. Finding discounts really makes our vacation money stretch further. Since you have over a year to plan and save, I think you could do it, especially since you'll be able to put some of your work money aside for it.

 

[Marionnette]

We request connecting rooms and so far, we have always been given them. It is not guaranteed but very, very likely they can accommodate the request.

Exactly! Disney tries very hard to accommodate requests and if having connecting rooms is absolutely essential to you, it's important to understand that there's a possibility (however slight) that you may not get them.

If you decide to take the chance to save some money, OP, I recommend that your only room request be that your rooms connect. No request for "near transportation", "first floor" or specific buildings. And it's better to have that request added to your reservation prior to your arrival rather than waiting until check in.

 

[SGMCO]

I also recommend Free Dining for Fall trips. There is already a FD watch thread started for 2017. And also if you have a Sam's Club membership you can buy discounted Gift Card for Disney, they are about 5% off and if you have a Chase Freedom Visa they are offering extra 5% on Sam's club purchases. I have saved around $335.00 on my upcoming package. I bought my GCs from Sams Club online with Free Shipping. Just added one GC at a time to pay my package off in "My Disney Experience" it was easy. Make sure you keep all of your GCs, just in case you have to get the money put back on them.

 

[Narnia_girl]

One way I supplement my Disney fund is by selling items at a home resale shop. I've sold throw pillows, candles, holiday decor, artwork, furniture and drapes this way. It all goes into my Disney fund. Yes, I could have a yard sale but I would rather pull my teeth and Facebook selling is basically the same. I don't mind paying a fee to the resale shop if I don't have to deal with the customers.

I also do Secret or Mystery Shopping. There are lots of sites that give honest information about this, you just have to read up on it. I generally make $14-20 a job (1 to 1.5 hours work).

In the last few months I've done Field Agent and Gig Walk which are like secret shopping only you don't have to go through so many hoops. Both are apps you do on site in a store--like take photos of displays and answer questions. Those pay $3-10 a job and depending on how much competition you have from other agents, it can add up. I made $56 in a month.

 

[mom to minnie&mickey]

All Star Music has family suites which sleep 6 but are quite a bit less expensive than Arts of Animation. They are still more expensive than 2 rooms at Music but your kids are still quite young and having all the family together would be worth it.

 

[kymom99]

One thing about free dining is if you stay at a value you only get the quick service plan. That's not a bad thing but just wanted you to know that. Someone here please correct me if I am wrong but the quick service credits are not specific to adult or child. So your children would not be required to eat a kids meal. You could have your kids split one full meal and save some credits that way.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I think I read somewhere that if it's one adult then they will guarantee you connecting rooms. I would call to confirm this.
I would also consider shortening your visit. We have done plenty of trips to WDW that had to be short/low budget. Of course we'd also prefer longer stays but we're just grateful to be there again. Hotels cost more for Friday & Saturday night stays so Sunday to Friday visits are more economical.
Since you're driving you can shop sales at home in advance for things to pack such as drinks and snacks.
Maybe pick up one extra item each week ariund 2 months prior to your trip so that you dont get stuck paying tourist prices for every little thing.

Look into buying park tickets from Undercover Tourist. The discount is small but x6 adds up. Also sometimes they offer 5th day free.
Every vacation day doesn't have to mean visiting a park. It's nice to have some down time to enjoy the pools and resort activities.
I would skip the hard-ticket party. As an hourly rate, it's cheaper to add a day to a multi-day ticket.

 

[shinymonkey]

If you plan on going to the halloween party buy 1 less park day ticket... (unless they change it) you can get into the Magic Kingdom at 4pm and have the run of the park until the party starts at 7.. use the morning to go to the pool/disney springs etc... have the bulk of your trip be during the week when room prices are the lowest the rates increase friday/saturday nights.. unless you are big eaters don't do the dining plan instead figure out how much each meal will cost you and get giftcards to cover that meal (make sure to include tip/tax) sign up for the Landry's select club if you plan on eating at either Rainforest cafe/t-rex cafe/or yak and yeti, you get a $25 credit and if you input the birthday as the same month you plan on being there you get another $25 credit to use on top of it..

 

[2manypets]

Since you originally asked how to save for a Disney trip, I'll not make suggestions of how to scale down on the trip.

I've saved a lot of money by setting the household budget a little higher than the actual bills are. Such as (for example) I'll write the electricity bill in as $300 per month. Most of the time it's less so I put that extra amount in savings. I have a set amount for groceries and if I use enough coupons and hit the sales, I'll come under budget putting that extra in savings. Not sure if this is a viable suggestion since I don't know who writes the household budget.

I also do mypoints for GC's to Rainforest Cafe. Maybe do a garage sale. Save change that's found around the house (or on the street)

 

[disneyduonj]

If you do the two rooms idea get the disney dining for just one of the rooms and split everything. I think you'd have to do two separate reservations though.
Also try doing all your spending on a rewards credit card...it will add up quickly in a year.

 

[DWFamilyof6]

If you want to go in the fall, Disney almost always has free dining. It would mean pulling your kids out of school, but if you're okay with that it would save you a lot of money. Yes you would pay rack rate for the room, but with six people eating for free I still think you would come out ahead. The only issue could be that Art of Animation is not usually part of the promotion, but you could try for two connecting rooms in a value resort. Our family loves having the dining plan, but we have only gone during free dining, I don't think I would pay for it since I am sure we could eat less expensively on our own. But for us, if we are able to get it free it beats any room discount we've seen for our travel dates.

I will also add, that I am a stay at home mom and I save a good chunk of our vacation money myself. I take out all my weekly money in cash (money for gas, groceries, misc expenses) and whatever I have left at the end of the week gets added to the Disney fund. Sometimes the amount left is pretty low, but other weeks it's pretty good. I aim for at least $20 a week, but I'm often able to do more than that. I also shop at a grocery store that has a rewards program, like spend $100 in a month and they give you $5 off your next order, or spend $30 in produce for the month get $3 off your next order. I generally do several of these promotions each month and at the end of the month I use all the money back to buy a Disney gift card. This week I bought a $25 gift card and only spent about $10. It's not a lot of money but it adds up. We also save change. That doesn't add up to a ton, but it's probably a couple hundred dollars each trip. I use that for souvenir money. I'm also just getting back into swagbucks, and I like that. I don't earn nearly as much as other people on here, but every little bit helps. If you do online shopping remembering to shop through swagbucks, ebates, or mypoints to get the points/cash back, is really easy and takes no effort.

We also have a certain amount come out of each of my husband's paycheck to go towards vacations. And regardless of where we go on vacation, I always spend a bit of time shopping around to find the best price. We love to travel, but could not afford to do so often if we had to pay full price. Finding discounts really makes our vacation money stretch further. Since you have over a year to plan and save, I think you could do it, especially since you'll be able to put some of your work money aside for it.

I love your ideas. Thanks so much. I spent a while today finding ways to cut our spending and am getting really excited for our potential. Good to know you have had a good experience with your 6 on the dining plan. I keep going back in forth but it seems so so convenient that it might be worth the cost.

 

[DWFamilyof6]

All Star Music has family suites which sleep 6 but are quite a bit less expensive than Arts of Animation. They are still more expensive than 2 rooms at Music but your kids are still quite young and having all the family together would be worth it.

Yes, I really don't think I'm ok with splitting the rooms.

 

[DWFamilyof6]

Since you originally asked how to save for a Disney trip, I'll not make suggestions of how to scale down on the trip.

I've saved a lot of money by setting the household budget a little higher than the actual bills are. Such as (for example) I'll write the electricity bill in as $300 per month. Most of the time it's less so I put that extra amount in savings. I have a set amount for groceries and if I use enough coupons and hit the sales, I'll come under budget putting that extra in savings. Not sure if this is a viable suggestion since I don't know who writes the household budget.

I also do mypoints for GC's to Rainforest Cafe. Maybe do a garage sale. Save change that's found around the house (or on the street)

Thanks! I'm working on a new budget now!

 

[DWFamilyof6]

If you plan on going to the halloween party buy 1 less park day ticket... (unless they change it) you can get into the Magic Kingdom at 4pm and have the run of the park until the party starts at 7.. use the morning to go to the pool/disney springs etc... have the bulk of your trip be during the week when room prices are the lowest the rates increase friday/saturday nights.. unless you are big eaters don't do the dining plan instead figure out how much each meal will cost you and get giftcards to cover that meal (make sure to include tip/tax) sign up for the Landry's select club if you plan on eating at either Rainforest cafe/t-rex cafe/or yak and yeti, you get a $25 credit and if you input the birthday as the same month you plan on being there you get another $25 credit to use on top of it..

thanks for the tips!