Any great Cost Cutting Tips???

[waltdisneyworlddreamer]

Openbook12--

Try posting your question as a new thread over on the park strategies board. I'm sure you'll get some good advice.

 

[pooh2001]

Older kids may enjoy a FREEBIE !!

Go to Fort Wilderness Cabins (camp ground) - at night they have a Free campfire sing
along with Chip & Dale. You can bring or purchase supplies for some-mores or other
snacks. Bring a blanket/towel to sit on. Use bug spray. Wear long pants. Bring a jacket.

There is a Disney movie or two show after the campfire.

Nice way to spend an evening - AND it's FREE !!

 

[Belle5]

With two great themed pools with slides at PO I would skip BB.

 

[Brer boy]

WDWDreamer- You may want to consider Ultimates for yourselves. When you add up your current plan, it comes to $235.26 for adult (Hopper + BB). If you buy Ultimate Hoppers for 4 days it would be $221.55 per adult. Then you can go to the parks, water parks, DQ as often as you like! Just an option to consider.

 

[Belle5]

Be really careful about those Ultimate Hoppers. If someone in your party gets sick or can't go to the parks for any reason, your tickets are wasted. On a regular park hopper they are good forever.

 

[TShippPugh]

We have a quite large family (7 of us going) and I found that renting a home is much cheaper than renting a hotel room (which several thousand people have stayed in over the years!).

I found a 4 bedroom, 2 bath with it's own pool in Davenport (10 min to WDW) for $99 per night. The house was just finished in April, so very few people have stayed there.

It's worth a look-see, especially if DH is worried about costs and you are giving up a nicer hotel to cut costs!

They have anywhere from 2, 3, 4 and 5 bedrooms for rent. Check out:

www.fvhr.net
www.vrbo.com

 

[jlb]

we did counter service for all breakfast because of the time they served it. 7:30 am was too late for the little one. I would also do dessert at the SciFi rather than dinner. Expensive dinners really add up

 

[faith]

HI WDWdreamer. On your way down make sure you get the free hotel coupon books at the freeway reststops. They always save you money on the hotel rooms.
Do the four of you get along well enough to share a room at Disney? Some riverside rooms have the trundle bed for the 3 yr. old. Or on the way down share a room. That would only be for a night each way with all of you in the same room?
Eat a late breakfast character meal. There's so much food your party won't want to eat until evening.
I think your little one will like PO pool and the kiddie pool at Riverside. Cheaper than BB for a day. It's hard to fit everything in anyway, and a day at the resort might be really relaxing for all of you.
Anyway, have a great vacation. I think it's great that your parents are going.

 

[LisaRex]

If you check out Connections123.com, they offer a 4-day Park Hopper Plus pass - the only place I've ever seen it. It's ~$200, if IIRC, for an adult and includes one Plus feature. This is the same price other sites offer for just the 4-day Park Hopper with no Plus features. Order thru them and it's like getting free admission to BB.

It's too late to do this now probably, but I would also recommend getting a premium credit card for future trips. I have a Kroger visa card where you accumulate reward points for every dollar you spend. One of the rewards is $50 gift certificates for Marriott properties. I charge just about everything I can, including my property taxes, in order to accumulate points. (Note: this only makes economic sense if you pay your card off every month.) There's no annual fee for this card.

Using my rewards, I've earned $250 in Marriott gift certificates that can be used for overnight stays when we drive a long distance. Nothing like a free night!