Cheapest Disney trip you’ve taken?

[winnieofpooh]

I would love love love to surprise my fiancé with a quick Disney trip for Christmas, as we both are obsessed with Disney and Christmas but have never been during that time. We’re currently saving up for a wedding and honeymoon so don’t have a ton of extra cash, so tell me your stories of cheap Disney trips!

I’m hoping to signup for a travel rewards card to get free flights, and we’ll only go for two days or so to cut down on hotels/tickets. What are other money saving hacks you have?

As a side bar - we’d have to go sometime the week of December 16-22 depending on the vacation days I can get. Is this just a horrible time to go and a waste of money? Crowds aren’t his favorite, but we’re very efficient with our FPs so hopefully can still ride a fair amount.

 

[rkstocke5609]

Sorry to say, but Disney loves two-three day people. Go to the website and you will find that park passes are nominally different from 4 days to 7 days. Basically, park admissions are priced such that they want to encourage you to stay longer. Having said that, the best way to do it economically is stay on property in a value resort so that you can take advantage of EMH. I would probably skip park hopper and just plan on one park per day, open to feet worn out. Food won’t help the budget, but renting a car that you don’t need offsets that, so just eat at the parks and “let it go” a bit. You may just want to purchase the DP so that you aren’t nickel & diming yourself, I find that having it paid for in advance takes the focus off the cost. Best wishes in your attempt at a “cheap” trip.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

Cheapest was back in the good ole days when dining plan incl app, tip, dessert, and more entitlements per day. It also was the full dining plan at values for free dining.

DD19 and I went when she was in 2nd grade, for 6 nights, at a value, for $800 package total. I spend under $50 out of pocket since all our dining was already included. This doesn't help you at all though...

Sooooo, come join us on the I love credit cards forum and we will hook you up.

DD19 and I do a long weekend together each summer. This is a fairly new tradition but last year I got POFQ on Hotwire fro $82/night. SW flights on points with a companion pass. Shared meals b/c it is too hot to eat alot in summer anyways. We fly down super early on arrival day so we can get in the parks by 10am, and fly home super late 2 days later so we get a full park day then too. For for 2 nights hotel we get 3 park days. I buy tickets with free of discounted gift cards.
We can help you get a free trip over on the credit card forum thread. Come on over! We are a friendly bunch.

 

[loves to dive]

My son and I have gone the past two years the week before Christmas. It is crowded but if you know that in advance, you can adjust. I have an AP but I shop all the sites for his tickets, Undercover Tourist, Cheaptickets, Mousesavers, etc. I also shop all the sites for room rates, sometimes it's better to book through Disney, sometimes I can get a better rate through Orbitz. We don't skimp on food but there have been booths similar to F&G and F&W, just not as many so you could eat at those and save a little money. I'm not a big meal eater so I tend to eat kid's meals if we eat QS, saves a little money (although that's not why I do it). I have a credit card that gives me points on everything. I charge everything to it, groceries, gas, etc. and pay it off every month. My points can be converted into cash that gets deposited into my checking account. You'd be surprised how fast that can add up. If you have a Sam's membership, you can get Disney gift cards at a discount, you don't save a fortune but you can save a couple of bucks then use the gift cards to pay for your food at Disney.

 

[Marionnette]

The cheapest trip was years ago, during post-9/11 and again during the recession. That was when the best bargains were available for travel. I also travel hacked credit cards and rewards sites all year in order to pay for those trips, which ended up costing $0 in the long run. Now, I work the rewards programs all year to pay for my trips but have not come close to a totally free one since those days.

As a PP pointed out, those 2-day tickets will not come at any discounts. Buy them from Disney. Use a Target REDCard to buy Disney GCs at 5% off of the face value and pay for the tickets that way. It's a small savings but at least it's something.

You will not be likely to find any package deals at Disney Resorts that are available for such a short stay. Consider an offsite resort in the Disney Springs area. There are some that enjoy EMH just like a Disney resort and many have 60-day FP+ reservation advantages. Some offer free breakfast buffets. If so, make that your main meal of the day.

If you must go this December, then get your airfare nailed down soon because prices will rise the closer you get to the holidays and award travel using specific airlines' programs have a limited number of seats available on each flight.

Then start looking for hotel deals, taking the cost of ground transportation in Orlando into consideration (i.e. airport to hotel and back, hotel to parks and back). Plan to pack a suitcase with energy snacks if you get free checked bags. Expect to eat cheaply (PB&J, pizza, tap water). Don't budget for souvenirs.

Try doing some of the rewards programs (iBotta, Shopkick, Swagbucks, Perk). You can pick up a little spending money from them over the next 6 months.

I wish you luck and congratulations on the wedding!

 

[DreamIsaWish]

Cheapest was back in the good ole days when dining plan incl app, tip, dessert, and more entitlements per day. It also was the full dining plan at values for free dining.

DD19 and I went when she was in 2nd grade, for 6 nights, at a value, for $800 package total. I spend under $50 out of pocket since all our dining was already included. This doesn't help you at all though...

I remember those good ole days as well! We did a family of three including airfare for $1500 for 8 nights. And the crowds were so low to boot! So many good meals... You've brought back wonderful memories!

 

[tzeitel]

I just went on the WDW site and the week you have available there is a free dining promo. You do have to stay a minimum of 5 days so it doesn't work for you, but it will affect crowds.

On holidays travel sites release special deals. Right now Orbitz has a 15% code that applies to WDW hotels. 2 nights at ASM total is $264.17, with free cancellation until December 12. You can frind cheaper prices off property, but then add transportation to/from the airport.

 

[BridgetBordeaux]

Stay offsite. There are many affordable two star and 3 star hotels in Kissimmee for reasonable prices.

My cheapest stays ended just a couple of years ago. From 2009 to about 2015 I was able to book a particular hotel for about 20 bucks a night using a travel company website. But..... that property was sold, updated with the latest finishes and furniture, and the price is more like 80 bucks a night. That influenced me to stay somewhere else. Now I pay about 35-40 a night.

 

[Klayfish]

Stay offsite and bring your own food in. We do that and spend probably far, far less than most people.

 

[kydisneyfans]

Cheapest trip is when we used to buy 10 day non expiration passes and stretch them over 3 trips.
We would then drive from KY instead of fly.
We did Skyauction for a week long condo for around $300-even if we were only staying 5-6 nights.

We were youngish and I remember that my wife was bummed about being laid off from a job. Skyauction used to have the offer where you got the room for around $300 plus a $100 certificate off the next room. I had received a sizable bonus and 2 days after she was laid off we went to Disney. Tickets were from the 10 days bought earlier, we used the condo shuttle to and from the parks, we cooked most meals as we need to eat whether here or there. Fuel was mostly paid for by Kroger/Speedway rewards, plus we had around $200 in Disney rewards from Visa. We went to Disney on a $500(+$200 rewards) budget. On one of the "down" days, we sat through the timeshare presentation and the offer was $200 cash. That essentially paid for the room. We came back with a good amount of $$, plus we had a great time. On top of that, my wife interviewed while at Disney and landed a job back in KY while we were gone.

Now it's more difficult. We own DVC(best purchase we ever made-resale). We invest in AP's for 4 of us(by bridging tickets, it's just over $500 per ticket). We normally fly, but could drive for about $300 instead. Food is the same thought as before, we need to eat whether here or there. With a kitchen, why spend $75 for 4 of us to eat italian at Epcot when I can make the same type of meal in the room for less than $10? Same with breakfast. We'll be spending some money this September to go, but trips in Jan/April and our son's honeymoon in August will all be on the AP. The room is covered, the tickets are covered, all we have is food and travel expense.

 

[robinb]

The most economical is to stay offsite and uber/lyft into the parks. If you can stay longer, the price per day on park passes goes down. The week before Christmas isn’t bad so if you’re out by the 22nd you should be good. The Christmas decorations are awesome!

Are you looking to go this year?

 

[winnieofpooh]

The most economical is to stay offsite and uber/lyft into the parks. If you can stay longer, the price per day on park passes goes down. The week before Christmas isn’t bad so if you’re out by the 22nd you should be good. The Christmas decorations are awesome!

Are you looking to go this year?

Yes! I want to avoid the mess of the holiday season next year with SWL opening in late fall.

 

[Deffenm]

This may not be a popular option but my DD and I did a short stay Sun - Wed for Spring Break this year and we did not go into any parks. I told her we could go but it wasn't cost effective to buy tickets when our flight didn't get in until late Sunday and we left early Wed. We had fun visiting resorts, Disney Springs, watching the outdoor movies at our hotel and hanging by the pool. You are going during a fun time of year and you could spend your days visiting Disney Springs and Touring the resort areas (MK, AK, Boardwalk) to see all of the Christmas decorations. For us just being there was enough. Of course we are planning Spring Break again next year but this time we will stay longer and go into the parks.

 

[robinb]

Can you take a week? I checked Sky Auction for you for 12/15-12/22 and you can get a 1 BR at Star Island Resort timeshare for $320.
http://www.skyauction.com/action/offer/2966677

That is a link to one of their Vacation Rental Certificates. Click on the "View Availability" button to check your dates. You need to read and completely understand all the fine print (extra charges for certain dates, availability, etc) with Sky Auction but you can get some really good deals.

You'll have to add transportation to/from the airport and then transportation to/from the resort. You can Uber/Lyft for both or car rental is about $200 for the week plus $22 per day to park at the Disney parks.

You can also do other things in the area that are cheaper than WDW parks. You can stroll around Disney Springs for free, visit resorts for their Christmas decorations, check out Groupon for other stuff to do.

 

[yeahdisney]

Cheapest last Jan 2018 SWA had flights $38! One way. Had enough point for me to fly both ways free. DS had one way free. Sister Paid less than $70 round trip.
Rented maybe two nights poly then AKL scored one bedroom value with my points for 2 nights.

Took the two dollar shuttle to and from airport. We both had non expiring tickets with two days left, we both had a water park ticket left. I think sister had a 2 day ticket.

We used magically express. We took breakfast food with us. I bought milk in the gift shops. Took a little Bag that held 8 pops to drink and checked it. Drank water or dole whips the rest of the time. Used gift cards for meals or Disney rewards and once a star bucks gift card in AK for lunch.

Did the VIP tour with discount and Disney rewards, pd out of pocket about $150 for us to do the tour and we got a lunch with that tour and my sister and I ate the dessert for supper that night.

 

[LYSE]

With enough credit card sign up bonuses you could do it for damn near free.

Flights are easy enough to do with points
Hotel - You could use credit card points for this as well
Tickets- You could potentially use cards like Arrival+ and Venture to apply statement credits to offset this as long as the charge shows up correctly.
Food- if you stay on property you could room charge and use the above cards to offset cost.

 

[miztressuz]

Our cheap trip recently was 2015, sorta spur of the moment/last minute for Dec, for a few nights to see the last year of Osbourne lights. We got SW tickets for $88 RT/pp which is the cheapest we've ever had. That was what kind of prompted us to swing down quick. We had only just seen the lights for the first time the year before, (so we at least saw them) but we had been looking forward to seeing them again on the next trip and so when they had announced for sure it was the last year and cheap airfare just decided to go for it. We got POP on a RO promo combined with Orbitz discount since we missed out on our PIN code. I can't remember if it was 2 or 3 nights, but we did everything except tickets for a little less than $500. We have No Expire tickets we bought several years ago that we used, so that's not a good comparison cost wise.
If we stayed offsite at a hotel with a shuttle it would have been a little cheaper, but since it was only a couple days we thought it worth the little extra for DME and the whole Disney experience. Food we did QS that had meals we could split so that kept food costs down. I can't remember if we did it on that trip but we a few times have bussed to DTD and walked to the Crossroads shopping center for cheap(er) food.

 

[asumom]

Now that some of the Disney springs hotels offer 60 day FP and EMH, maybe look into those?

 

[disneymagicgirl]

The cheapest trip was years ago, during post-9/11 and again during the recession. That was when the best bargains were available for travel.

Yeeessss, the buy 4 nights get 3 free deal...circa 2009. I believe we were there on that deal at AKL in April 2009. I only remember specifics because we got a Mouseketeer 9 months later.

 

[MinnieWebster]

One of our cheapest, if not THE cheapest was the first week of Dec 2017. It was fairly last minute, we found cheap flights from our local airport flying Allegiant Air to Sanford airport, with a car rental, for about $400, cheap hotel (Howard Johnson in Kissimmee) for about $300 (after fees). Stopped at Wal-Mart for some cheap/easy groceries, we made sandwiches to take into the park for lunch, snack foods for breakfast, and spent less than $200 on food (dinner/ice cream/etc) in the parks. And we have APs, so that took care of our tickets.