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One more thing. The plane tickets are actually 500$ per person. Sorry I guess the person who told me theyd run about 900$ was still living in 1994.
Well instead of being somewhat vague as your original post was...what is your budget for this trip...$500 in plane tix for 4 you are already at $2K before you step a toe into Disney. Depending on time of year and where you are flying from you may be able to get those tix down to 300-350 pp
Are you a Triple A member? I only ask because you can supposedly pre buy Disney tix from them a tad cheaper.
Have you looked on Disney's web site for pricing?
Are you staying with Granny? If not do you plan to stay on Disney property or off?
All though there are discounts available, Disney for 4 be it you fly or drive is not a cheap vacation. At bare minimum depending on how long you plan on staying, how many Disney days, where you plan on staying, drive or fly for 4 people $4K.
One more thing. The plane tickets are actually 500$ per person. Sorry I guess the person who told me theyd run about 900$ was still living in 1994.
Whoever is saying they are that expensive is nuts. I'm seeing fares are low as $200 per person r/t from PVD into FLL.
Mousesavers.com will be the best source of legitimate discounts for Disney tickets. Even then, expect to pay $1300 for your family for a few days, not including parking and food.
Well instead of being somewhat vague as your original post was...what is your budget for this trip...$500 in plane tix for 4 you are already at $2K before you step a toe into Disney. Depending on time of year and where you are flying from you may be able to get those tix down to 300-350 pp
Are you a Triple A member? I only ask because you can supposedly pre buy Disney tix from them a tad cheaper.
Have you looked on Disney's web site for pricing?
Are you staying with Granny? If not do you plan to stay on Disney property or off?
All though there are discounts available, Disney for 4 be it you fly or drive is not a cheap vacation. At bare minimum depending on how long you plan on staying, how many Disney days, where you plan on staying, drive or fly for 4 people $4K.
AAA gives about a 3% discount--not even enough for lunch one day. If granny doesn't live in the Orlando area, they will need hotels while they are at Disney.
I agree that with meals, hotel, plane tickets, rental car, and park tickets, OP is looking at minimum $4000 for the trip. It could be double that based on a bunch of factors.
If she would give us details such as where granny lives, the ages of the kids (if she gave that I apologize), how many days she wants to spend at Disney, and most importantly--when she wants to travel, it will help.
One more thing. The plane tickets are actually 500$ per person. Sorry I guess the person who told me theyd run about 900$ was still living in 1994.
You might want to price it yourself. I don't know what your travel dates are, but I just checked, and found Hartford to Orlando in November (before T'giving) for $202 per person on Southwest.
My car is like yours, OK for a daily driver, but too many miles for me to trust it for a long distance trip. For those we use my wife's vehicle which is newer and has half the mileage. As far as Disney, my parents went with my nieces a few years ago. We considered a trip many years ago, just my wife and I, but we decided it was so kid oriented, it likely would be a waste of money (she doesn't like amusement park rides or shows really). I'm a member of AAA and when I spoke to them one of them they gave me a map. Now Disney World isn't just the Magic Kingdom and Epcot Center of years past, but it includes a zoo, two water parks, a movie studios park, and the Downtown Disney area. I know they used to sell tickets based on what exactly you wanted to see and do, and there might be discounts if you only go for half days, etc.. I also was told the zoo/animal park wasn't all that, but then others say it was OK. You might want to join AAA in your area. They have discounted tickets for lots of things in Florida, and they usually have good deals on Hertz rental vehicles as well. Renting a vehicle and driving will almost always be cheaper then flying.
Use kayak as it shows you prices for multiple dates at one time.
For Dec, I'm seeing $202pp for 1-stop and $273 for non-stop (once you click on find flights).
I would do that instead of driving for so long, twice. When we went it was over $300pp and we wound up spending $4k for the Disney trip altogether (2 kids). Numbers so you have an idea of what to expect:
airfare $1,347.20
luggage $50.00
hotel $729.32
park tix $1,368.33 (park hopper at a discount)
car rental $215.27
food $604
I couldn't imagine having to drive 40 hours on top of an already-exhausting trip.
One more thing. The plane tickets are actually 500$ per person. Sorry I guess the person who told me theyd run about 900$ was still living in 1994.
I live in CT and have relatives in FL that I visit regularly. I fly from BDL to Orlando and have never paid more than $250/pp. As long as you are a little bit flexible and don't plan travel at peak times (kid's winter vacation, for instance) you shouldn't be paying over $500 per ticket. Sign up for email deals from Southwest and JetBlue. Those are usually your 2 cheapest options to FL out of Hartford.
More info would be helpful, like when exactly are you planning on traveling?
My car is like yours, OK for a daily driver, but too many miles for me to trust it for a long distance trip. For those we use my wife's vehicle which is newer and has half the mileage. As far as Disney, my parents went with my nieces a few years ago. We considered a trip many years ago, just my wife and I, but we decided it was so kid oriented, it likely would be a waste of money (she doesn't like amusement park rides or shows really). I'm a member of AAA and when I spoke to them one of them they gave me a map. Now Disney World isn't just the Magic Kingdom and Epcot Center of years past, but it includes a zoo, two water parks, a movie studios park, and the Downtown Disney area. I know they used to sell tickets based on what exactly you wanted to see and do, and there might be discounts if you only go for half days, etc.. I also was told the zoo/animal park wasn't all that, but then others say it was OK. You might want to join AAA in your area. They have discounted tickets for lots of things in Florida, and they usually have good deals on Hertz rental vehicles as well. Renting a vehicle and driving will almost always be cheaper then flying.
There are no "half day" tickets. (There is an "Epcot After 4:00" annual pass, but it is only available to locals, and they require proof of residence.) There are four main parks, Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Studios, and Animal Kingdom (which is NOT a zoo. ) I can give a ton of info beyond that, but it will depend on when they are planning on visiting. I truly hope it's not Christmas week, when the parks close to more people by 10:00 am and lines can be three hours long for a single ride. (If you aren't staying at a Disney property you can be shut out of visiting any park completely that week.)
FYI--Even with AAA discounts, Hertz is usually much more expensive than Budget, Thrifty, etc.
Interstate miles are far easier on a car than city miles so if a car can is fit to drive 1000 miles around town over two weeks it can easily handle 1000 miles on the highway over 24 hours.
That said, a rental car will be newer and nicer and more comfortable. The caveat, as mentioned by someone, is that rental agencies usually don't allow their cars to be taken out of a geographic area. They really don't want people doing what you are wanting to do - rent a car with unlimited mileage and going on a long distance trip. They will know it as most cars have gps trackers installed.
But the economics favor your plan in spite of the trumped up costs by the weenies who can't handle a long distance drive. $200 food each way? Nonsense. Pack a cooler with home-made sandwiches, fruit, and sodas.
Also keep in mind the weather conditions when planning such a drive. It would be easy to get slowed down quite a bit by an unexpected snow storm while you are still up north, or even a mild winter storm as you get further into the south and encounter areas unequipped to deal with even a half of an inch of snow or sleet or ice.
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) I can give a ton of info beyond that, but it will depend on when they are planning on visiting. I truly hope it's not Christmas week, when the parks close to more people by 10:00 am and lines can be three hours long for a single ride. (If you aren't staying at a Disney property you can be shut out of visiting any park completely that week.)
