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The doctor I work with routinely goes to Disney with his family, they make a killing there on packaging conferences, he can write off the whole trip almost. He does his continuing education, while his wife takes the kids to the park. He meets them when he is done.
It may be worth looking for conferences related to your job, maybe making it a working vacation, and maybe getting your employer to pay for hotel, airfare, if possible.
i am truly mystified by some of the budgets people are posting. i don't have a family or anything, but i travel for business 365 days per year and i have always found orlando to be among the cheapest cities in the world. i think last time i was there i was paying $45/night after tax for a perfectly acceptable hilton garden inn, and $120/week for rental car. i don't know anything about the amusement park tickets, i heard theyre expensive but theres prolly cheap ways to get them.
We have taken our kids to Disney World 3 times and are planning our 4th and final this February because we are hoping to move out west within the next year or so. My kids will be 13, almost 10 and turning 4 when there. We could not have done this many trips without the help of our friend who works there. He has gotten us 50% off our hotel each time, gotten three of us into the parks for free (he is only allowed 3 at a time if he uses his regular discount) and last time, we didn't pay a nickel for our park tickets at all. He met us at the gate every morning and used his special friends and family pass to get all 5 of us in (4 actually but baby was free). He also got us discounts on food and souveniers. Our entire 5 day trip, including airfare, only cost us $1200.
This time, we are driving (18 hours) since airfare is insane, and we are only doing 2 Disney parks, so I figured we would just pay for our tickets ourselves and not have to bother him about getting us in or meeting us there. Well... park tickets for a family of five for 2 days will cost me almost $1000! And this is not the "hopper" option and it is supposed to be the "discount" season. I was shocked at how much the prices have gone up in the past few years. When we paid for our one family member it was $60. Now it is $90. I am now rethinking this entire trip. We were also planning on going to Universal for two days which is about $30 less, and they always have a buy one get one free ticket. Disney never discounts anything. Add gas, food, Universal and hotel (still discounted 50%) and I just can't see it being doable. I know he will help us out with park tickets, but I truly don't want to ask him to do that, though I know he doesn't mind. My husband will be talking to him tonight about options for discounts, but I jsut don't know if this can happen. My kids will be so upset.
i am truly mystified by some of the budgets people are posting. i don't have a family or anything, but i travel for business 365 days per year and i have always found orlando to be among the cheapest cities in the world. i think last time i was there i was paying $45/night after tax for a perfectly acceptable hilton garden inn, and $120/week for rental car. i don't know anything about the amusement park tickets, i heard theyre expensive but theres prolly cheap ways to get them.
If you're not going to Disney World I'm sure a trip to Orlando isn't too expensive. This thread is about Disney World not the city of Orlando.
If you're not going to Disney World I'm sure a trip to Orlando isn't too expensive. This thread is about Disney World not the city of Orlando.
ppl are listing ridiculous prices for hotel and rental car tho. im checking priceline express deals and hotwire and plenty of decent hotels for much lower prices.
i am truly mystified by some of the budgets people are posting. i don't have a family or anything, but i travel for business 365 days per year and i have always found orlando to be among the cheapest cities in the world. i think last time i was there i was paying $45/night after tax for a perfectly acceptable hilton garden inn, and $120/week for rental car. i don't know anything about the amusement park tickets, i heard theyre expensive but theres prolly cheap ways to get them.
The rental car, maybe, but $45.00 a night for a garden Inn is totally not possible. You also were not staying anywhere near the parks for that price. What are you talking about, after taxes? And no, there isn't anyway to get cheap tickets to the park unless you have connections. I just checked the Garden Inn, for the lowest season, which is late Sept to early Oct, it is $73.00 a night on Priceline. Plus, what you do not understand, families often need more than 1 room or they need a suite hotel plus they can not travel just anytime, they have to go when school is out. Obviously the prices are much higher then. Traveling on business, compared to traveling as a family are 2 totally different things.
The food in the parks is very expensive and bad. Also, I spent a fair amount on tipping to doormen, golf pros, wait staff, and limo drivers. I feel strongly about tipping good service and it was all good. The bell boys appeared with ice cold bottles of water every time we left. The front desk staff was helpful setting up our golf times and other excursions. We felt very safe. I did not rent a car and I will not next time. Lots of shuttles between hotel and Disney. But next time we are staying at a golf resort and taking shuttle service to the parks.
I have two sets of friends who have stayed at moderate Disney hotels, like Port Orleans, during peak season, and it was fine.
I book through a travel agent, and I never use the on-line services mentioned by others. I have seen too many people not het what they expected at the desk when they arrive.
My husband and I went to Disney a couple of years ago. We stayed at the motel 6 for $60 a night for 3 nights on international drive and rented a car. If you go to one of those timeshare presentations you get a nice discount on your ticket for admission as well.
We didn't have children with us, but I noticed families going into the park with snacks and water bottles so that saves buying too much food. Disney allows you to take your own food so take advantage. We made sure we had a hearty breakfast before leaving as well so we didn't have to spend on more than one meal at Disney. We opted to eat the cheapest thing we could find, which I think was some fries or baked potato. We had purchased a couple of frozen dinners to reheat at the hotel. Also, we refilled our water bottle at the fountains in order not to keep spending on that.
I know it's more difficult with children, but there are ways to save a bit. teachers get a bit of a discount, AAA offers discounts to Disney, and there are blogs and promotions you can find online.
We took our kids to Disney World while living in Florida. Living in Florida, obviously, does make Disney somewhat cheaper. We went in 04-05. Today the cost is crazy expensive and I have a 17 year old and 20 year old so they could careless about Mickey Mouse at this point. I would have to agree that something like Yellowstone would be a much better experience then a crowded, very hot theme park where the lines never seem to end.
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