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I have use of a west gate timeshare and I'm trying to get my brother, sil and their children (12,5, 2) to come. I know money is tight for them. I've read the Disney on a budget websites but a lot has to do with accomodations and dining which isn't the issue. The resort has a ton of activities for the kids that you could be busy all day and never even go to Disney, lol.
What is the lowest price you've spent and still had fun? Subtracting transportation, lodging, 75% of food, would $1000-1500 be possible?
Have you split up the family, like I can see my sil and the baby only be interested in a day at the park and chill at the pool the other days but my brother and nephews might want to go 2-3 days.
If money is tight for them, Disney is not a good idea. "Trying to get them to go" probably isn't a great idea either.
Are you talking 1k to include everyone? For all expenses?
It's not like I'm pressuring them. They've been wanting to take a family vacation and even going to a local theme park for a few days would be over a grand bc they'd have to pay for lodging and meals (except breakfast if hotel includes it). Disney would just be the admission and some incidentals. My sil parents would probably throw a few dollars for the kids.
The $1000-1500 is just for them. I have my own money and I'd be willing to treat the kids a little bit but I don't want to subsidize the trip.
I just thought since they were trying to go on vacation, it might be the cheapest option based on the research I've been doing for them. I know that camping is out bc they do that a lot and my sil wants to relax by a pool.
They live in Michigan and even to rent a house near the beach is a couple grand.
I have use of a west gate timeshare and I'm trying to get my brother, sil and their children (12,5, 2) to come. I know money is tight for them. I've read the Disney on a budget websites but a lot has to do with accomodations and dining which isn't the issue. The resort has a ton of activities for the kids that you could be busy all day and never even go to Disney, lol.
What is the lowest price you've spent and still had fun? Subtracting transportation, lodging, 75% of food, would $1000-1500 be possible?
Have you split up the family, like I can see my sil and the baby only be interested in a day at the park and chill at the pool the other days but my brother and nephews might want to go 2-3 days.
Three day single park tickets just for your brother and two nephews will be $849. Add the park hopper option, and it goes up to $1029
Drop it to two days, and it's $585/$765 for the three of them.
One day for SIL will be somewhere between $99-119 (as much as $174 to add Park Hopper)
If you want disney for cheap, the best thing going is their water parks. For example, typhoon lagoon offers yearly access for like $10-15 bucks extra, have free parking, and lockers, and areas to set shop away . You can go back to the car and re enter. The water park tickets are less than other park tickets.
You can get meals from the publixs, as well as daily groceries. So a cooler for park meals and beverages cuts back on costs.
I'm 29 and live in NC, and my parents (not rich by any stretch of the imagination) took me and my brother to Disney World every year for about eight years when I was little. Mom said they spent about $800 per trip, but this was in the 90's. They drove, but they knew other ways to save money. Of course, my info is outdated, but between those trips and doing a lot of cheap traveling as an adult (we take 2-3 cross country trips a year), here are my ideas....
For one, we (aka my parents) always bought all "Disney stuff" before we left home. It's easy enough to find cheap Disney-licensed stuff with your favorite characters at home, and it's wayyyyyy cheaper than buying it there. It helps get everyone excited for the trip, everyone has Disney "stuff" to wear on the trip, and when a kid wants to drift toward a pricey souvenir shop, you can say, "But you just got new stuff with Mickey/Elsa/whatever, remember? My favorite was that Frozen T-shirt that you got, what was your favorite?" and keep it moving. A quick Google search will show you that Disney T-shirts can be had for less than $10 a piece. This is now way easier than it was for my parents, who had to actually find it all in a store. You can now order Mickey/Minnie Mouse ears, T-shirts, etc. sooooo cheap online.
Eat at the resort. The Westgate has full kitchens, right? I know cooking on vacation sucks, but maybe everyone can take turns.
If nothing else, things like going to a nearby grocery store and grabbing a couple of pre-cooked rotisserie chickens and fried chickens, a couple of sides...you'll be able to feed the whole group for less than what one family would spend at a restaurant and will have leftovers for everyone to snack on.
Pick up a few pizzas from Little Caesars or something, $5 a piece.
For breakfast, use the kitchen in the timeshare and make simple stuff like scrambled eggs, bacon, toast. Dropping $25-$30 at a grocery store to buy some breakfast stuff would be enough to feed the whole crowd for the whole trip vs. what even two people might spend on a breakfast dining out.
The kids are going to want snacks, so you're better off going to a grocery store or dollar store-type place to buy some candy, chips, whatever to keep around. If everyone is FULL when you get to Disney World, you may only have to buy one meal -- or if planned properly, a couple of snacks -- versus having to sit down for overpriced meals throughout the day.
If eating at the resort isn't an option for some reason, go to McDonald's or something in the morning before visiting the parks, ordering cheap stuff (McChicken biscuits are a dollar here!).
Also, according to the Disney website (https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/fa...ood-and-drink/), you can bring food and drinks into the park. I don't recommend lugging a cooler along with you or anything, but even having your SIL stash a few granola bars or other simple snacks in her purse can help. For the kids -- who will probably "get hungry" just because they see a fascinating restaurant that they want to check out -- I wouldn't even put it as a budget thing...you could say something like, "I'm still stuffed from breakfast, but here's a such-and-such if you're hungry for a snack. I don't feel like wasting time in there when there is so much to see and do, do you? Let's check out such-and-such!!"
When you aren't at the parks, keep everyone entertained at the resort. Spend tons of time at the pool! Outings are going to cost money in a tourist town. For down times, bring things to keep kids AND adults entertained in the room...card/board games, books and magazines, maybe the Xbox or Playstation if the kids have one (not that difficult to transport and can make life way easier), etc.
I've seen where you can buy discount Disney World tickets on ebay and such. I've never done so I don't necessarily recommend, but it may be something to check out if you can find a seller that has a good reputation?
I'm 29 and live in NC, and my parents (not rich by any stretch of the imagination) took me and my brother to Disney World every year for about eight years when I was little. Mom said they spent about $800 per trip, but this was in the 90's. They drove, but they knew other ways to save money. Of course, my info is outdated, but between those trips and doing a lot of cheap traveling as an adult (we take 2-3 cross country trips a year), here are my ideas....
For one, we (aka my parents) always bought all "Disney stuff" before we left home. It's easy enough to find cheap Disney-licensed stuff with your favorite characters at home, and it's wayyyyyy cheaper than buying it there. It helps get everyone excited for the trip, everyone has Disney "stuff" to wear on the trip, and when a kid wants to drift toward a pricey souvenir shop, you can say, "But you just got new stuff with Mickey/Elsa/whatever, remember? My favorite was that Frozen T-shirt that you got, what was your favorite?" and keep it moving. A quick Google search will show you that Disney T-shirts can be had for less than $10 a piece. This is now way easier than it was for my parents, who had to actually find it all in a store. You can now order Mickey/Minnie Mouse ears, T-shirts, etc. sooooo cheap online.
Eat at the resort. The Westgate has full kitchens, right? I know cooking on vacation sucks, but maybe everyone can take turns.
If nothing else, things like going to a nearby grocery store and grabbing a couple of pre-cooked rotisserie chickens and fried chickens, a couple of sides...you'll be able to feed the whole group for less than what one family would spend at a restaurant and will have leftovers for everyone to snack on.
Pick up a few pizzas from Little Caesars or something, $5 a piece.
For breakfast, use the kitchen in the timeshare and make simple stuff like scrambled eggs, bacon, toast. Dropping $25-$30 at a grocery store to buy some breakfast stuff would be enough to feed the whole crowd for the whole trip vs. what even two people might spend on a breakfast dining out.
The kids are going to want snacks, so you're better off going to a grocery store or dollar store-type place to buy some candy, chips, whatever to keep around. If everyone is FULL when you get to Disney World, you may only have to buy one meal -- or if planned properly, a couple of snacks -- versus having to sit down for overpriced meals throughout the day.
If eating at the resort isn't an option for some reason, go to McDonald's or something in the morning before visiting the parks, ordering cheap stuff (McChicken biscuits are a dollar here!).
Also, according to the Disney website (https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/fa...ood-and-drink/), you can bring food and drinks into the park. I don't recommend lugging a cooler along with you or anything, but even having your SIL stash a few granola bars or other simple snacks in her purse can help. For the kids -- who will probably "get hungry" just because they see a fascinating restaurant that they want to check out -- I wouldn't even put it as a budget thing...you could say something like, "I'm still stuffed from breakfast, but here's a such-and-such if you're hungry for a snack. I don't feel like wasting time in there when there is so much to see and do, do you? Let's check out such-and-such!!"
When you aren't at the parks, keep everyone entertained at the resort. Spend tons of time at the pool! Outings are going to cost money in a tourist town. For down times, bring things to keep kids AND adults entertained in the room...card/board games, books and magazines, maybe the Xbox or Playstation if the kids have one (not that difficult to transport and can make life way easier), etc.
I've seen where you can buy discount Disney World tickets on ebay and such. I've never done so I don't necessarily recommend, but it may be something to check out if you can find a seller that has a good reputation?
Yeah, I think with some adjustments, it's doable. Thanks for the good tips!
Going on a vacation anywhere on a bare bones budget is miserable. It becomes stressful and if you can't afford to do half the things there why bother? I'm all for cutting costs on things like lodging and food, but not activities, and you can't do activities in Disney World on a budget.
My inlaws live just a short distance from there, so we've done Disney while staying in their house. So basically we just talking daily park costs. Even our kids felt it wasn't worth the cost. Once was enough for them. They'd rather do the various local theme parks near home than Disney -- less crowded, more ride time, and rides that are more fun.
I recall a coworker saying how his folks had scrimped and saved to take the family to Disney. While it was fun, he said truth be told, they (kids) would have been just as happy to go to the local Holiday Inn and play in the pool.
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