The Great 'Disney Cost Cutting' Hunt

sarahscraps

hi, we have been to Florida twice (02 and 06) and we love it
firstly if there are more than 4 of you in your family a villa can be cheaper than a hotel room as you pay for a roll out bed for the 5th person per night, we booked through Bon Voyage and paid for villa per night not per person per night - big difference, it cost us approx £65 per night not bad for a family of 5, (£13 each per night!) also most come with a pool and you are not squashed in one room every night,

on the idea of disney tickets sometimes the disney shops in uk have discounts or the other idea is to buy one ticket a month in advance and spread the cost

we used to do one day getting up early and being there at beginning of day to get into park of our choice, and the next day day have a lie in, play in pool, breakfast in villa and then leave late morning and either go to a park or visit the limitless amount of other attractions, this way you don't finish your holiday needing another holiday to recover!!

also there was no way you could either pysically or financially be able to do all of disney parks and universal parks without having a break down, so on our first trip we did disney and on our 2nd one we did universal, also this takes the preasure off having to use all the days on your ticket because you have paid for them and you can visit some of the other attractions in the area

as said in other threads planning is key, talk to everyone in your group to see what their priorities are, read books and web sites and talk to friends who have been before and learn from their mistakes

lastly take a good camera with plenty of memory and if you run out go into somewhere like walmart and get your photos developed and also put on a disc so you can use the disc at home and free up your memory card to start again, happy holidays

bindiboo

guys I am having a job finding flights to sanford

we want to fly from any london in october

any suggestions?

vivatifosi

We go to Orlando 2-3 times per year. If you are going regularly (even once a year), it really makes sense to buy annual passes. Say your go early July this year, just go back by the end of June the following year and you get 4 weeks of park entry for relatively little money. Also with annual passes you get free car parking ($11 per day if staying off-site) and 10% off some dining, shopping and add-on entertainment costs.

My time saving tip is to get to the park before it opens, that way you'll get much more done before everyone else turns up. Using this tip may also cut down on the number of days you need to spend in Disney, saving money too.

Drinks and snacks are very expensive in Disney, so as soon as we get there we stock up on bottled water and snacks at the local supermarkets (Walmart is probably cheapest). That'll see us through until 3pm when we leave the parks and have a late lunch. There are plenty of cheap eateries in Lake Buena Vista and Kissimmee which are nearby. If you want to eat at Disney in one of the themed restaurant, it is generally cheaper to do his for lunch than dinner.

Look out for free concerts at Epcot (free once you've paid the admission that is). They have a concert series late Spring to coincide with the flower festival, in the Autumn to coincide with the Food and Wine Festival and Christmas carol concerts in December. These are held at the American Gardens Theater and you need to get there at least half an hour before for the popular acts. Each concert lasts about 1/2 an hour to 40 minutes. This year's guest acts for Eat to the Beat (Autumn) include Kool and the Gang, David Cassidy, En Vogue and Boyz II Men. The free Sounds Like Summer series which is on currently features tribute acts, including Bjorn Again.

Shuttle launch on while you're over? Watch for free from Cocoa Beach rather than paying to go to Kennedy, and if its a very clear day you can even see it from Orlando. Just look East, and then... up!

Hiring a car from Orlando airport? Don't agree to an upcharge unless you've sent one of your party on a scouting mission first. You can see which cars they have left parked by category. Quite often they will have run out of a category and still try to get you to pay for an upgrade...

Shopping? There are several great factory outlet malls in Orlando, my favourites are at the top and bottom end of I-Drive. Get an idea of what you want before you leave so you can compare, and remember, shoe and clothes sizes are different in the US, so find out what the equivalents are. Nike, Ralph Lauren, Estee Lauder and Fossil are among the brands that you can pick up really cheap. Also check out the Disney and Universal outlets for cheap pressies to take back.

If you are looking for a bigger purchase, such as a camcorder, get the Orlando Sentinel newspaper on Sunday, it has all of the advertising supplements for the big stores, you can see who is charging what where, and what offers are on.

Tourist coupon booklets.... they are everywhere. Look out for coupons for everything from restaurants to the second tier entertainment (crazy golf, etc). 10% off is 10% off and they don't cost anything!

Staying at a Disney hotel? It may be cheaper to take Disney's Magical Express (free transport if booked with hotel) there and back and just hire a car for a few days to go elsewhere. There are car hire locations throughout Disney (Alamo/National I think).

Check that your hotel room has got a fridge. That way you can have cereals and milk for breakfast with a nice cuppa. Much cheaper than eating in theme parks. I do take plastic bowls and spoons with me too. Yes, I am that cheapskate!

muddybarnes

:cool:
We have been to Orlando for many years now, have found the best site to use for park tickets is www.park-tickets.com. The site gives you the gate prices, their ticket price and the amount you save by buying with them, or not, as on occasions gate prices are cheaper. It is worth keeping an eye on the exchange rate as they adjust their prices daily according to the market rates - which is good for us brits at the min. They are the only site I have come across which enables you to buy single day tickets for disney waterparks, also many other tickets I have not seen on other sites. Having said all that I found this year it was cheaper to buy tickets for seaworld direct from their official site, they issue you with an e-ticket it worked out about £2.50 per ticket cheaper.

:beer:

Stenny

The best advice I could give is to visit www.thedibb.co.uk. the Disney Information Bulletin Board. You will find every piece of information you need for a fantastic visit to all the Orlando parks, especially Disneyworld. :beer:

pyabies

I think british military families can still get discounts off gate prices from Shades of Green, not sure if they can be purchased in advance though. SoG is on Walt Disney World Resort and you have to take your Mil ID and visit in person. Check out www.shadesofgreen.org

tightwadman

My first Disney Park visit was in March 1986 and a one day entry ticket to Epcot was $22 - nothing like that now. Have been back to Florida 10 times since and visited all the main parks except the water parks. If you are organised you can get through most of the attractions in a park in one day. You must arrive early - even before the advertised times as they do seem to let tourists into the parks. Head straight for the most popular rides first. I dont know why anyone would need a 14 day pass on a two week holiday, even a 7 day pass may be too much esp if you want to do Universal / Sea World. Just pay for what you need. Disney is great for families and kids and I agree with the advice about hiring a villa. But dont forget there is more to Florida than just Disney and personally I rate Universals twin parks higher than any Disney Park. Disney certainly has the pixie dust but Universal has the best rides. And the park I will never tire of visiting is ......... Sea World!

izzitme

Only a small saving, but if you park at Boardwalk Resort (just tell the gate man that you would like to take a look around);) the parking is free, & you can walk to the back entrance to EPCOT in about 5 minutes.

sezzie

Can't remember who mentioned the esteemed Mike (the tour guide) but it's $22 very well spent - once you've done Disney his way, you'll never do it any other way! And they have forums over there, very friendly and helpful folks.


Found Mike, paid his $22. I really hope it was money well spent!!! We are off to Orlando in April 09. Paid through the nose as tied to school hols (my work & sons GCSEs etc). Need tips on attraction tickets to buy etc, so hoe Mike comes through!!

millsmum

We haven't been to disney in a few years, last time we were there we did the time share thing for free tickets. wow that was a hard sell, but an experience, never to be done again but fun at the time. We then found the booths on the side of the road and bought some passes from them for disney and universal. can we still do this? or has disney made it impossible?