Whew...just got back after 8 days
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| Mon, 07-17-2006 - 1:25pm |
and it was an amazing trip! Not sure if anyone remembers me but we (DH, me and 2 daughters age 7 and 11) went to WDW for 8 days on a budget. I got our plane tickets and off site hotel for less than $2000.
Plane ride was uneventful other than the airline losing our bag with all our bathroom stuff in. Just a tip...the airline has kits they can give you with emergency stuff in it, of course we found that out after the fact and went out and bought new deodorant, shampoo, toothbrushes etc.
Staying offsite was just fine for us, the motel wasnt great but it was a clean bed and a place to shower. And thats basically all we did there. We did use the pool a couple of nights too. Worked out perfect for out budget. I'm sure it would have been very nice to stay onsite but we didnt seem to miss out on anything.
We rented a car and got a great rate, of course when we got there they high pressured us into upgrading which I will be emailing the company to complain about. Because after giving us the car we needed directions to a walgreens (to buy the stuff the airline lost)we got this extremely high pressure sales pitch to go see a timeshare. I was so angry about the whole thing. hotwire is great for getting great rates for rental cars.
We got 6 day tickets + waterparks options (which gives you 5 visits) I skipped the parkhopper because I figured we just wouldnt end up using them and we didnt miss it at all. Ordering directly from disney online gives you the best price no matter what all the other sites say, I researched this tons.
We had about $900 maybe a little more spending cash/food money and we came back with money in our pockets. When we got hungry we ate, when we wanted a snack we had one. We didnt do any character meals...my girls werent interested. We just ate in the parks or picked something quick on our way back to the motel. The girls got all the souveneirs they wanted too. I was really worried that wouldnt be enough money but it was. Had we done nicer dinners it wouldnt have but it just shows you can do the parks on a budget and not want for much. You may get tired of hotdogs and burgers but a couple of the parks have pizza and chinese noodles...YUM! that place was a godsend!
Our walkie talkies were great. Once and a while we'd get someone else's converstation but we'd just switch frequencies.
I wore my airwalk shoes...those ugly ones everyone wears now. And my feet were just fine. I got a pair of the flip flops too, I'd switch out, one day I wore tennis shoes. My feet never hurt, they were tired at the end of the day but never pain.
So my tips for the trip are....
USE THE FASTPASS! Get one as soon as you get to a park, and get the next one as soon as it says you can. Keep using those fast passes all day long! It will save you alot of time!
WEAR SUNSCREEN!...we used the 50 spf and still got pretty crispy
Get handheld fans, my girls got very overheated, especially when you've gotta wait in line. There are lots of places to cool off in all the parks but waiting in line did them in.
Take along Crystal lite packs. The water in Florida has a sulfur smell/taste to it, unless you want to pay $2 for every bottle of water you can save alot buy filling up in the water fountain and adding a packet of crystal light. Although finding a fountain where the water was actually cold can be hard.
Bring ponchos! When it rains in florida it POURS! I always left mine in the car and boy did we get wet! LOL...kinda nice after roasting though.
We had such a wonderful, magical time. I got some excellent tips from this board and I'm very grateful for them! Sorry this got so long, I think when you get back you just want to share it all dont you? LOL! Cant wait till we can go again!
~melissa


Glad to hear your vacation was so nice. I love hearing (reading) good reports about staying off-site and staying on a budget. IT CAN BE DONE!
Josette
Val
WDW Trips: April '72, June '85, June '91 - offsite; May '03 - VWL, Nov '04 - BCV, May '05 - VWL, March '06
Val, Co-CL Disney Vacations
Sounds like a wonderful trip!!
As for the cold water, counter service restaurants will give you a cup of ice for free. Also, we like to bring in frozen bottles of water that melt throughout the day, but are still cold to drink.
Alysha
Hi Melissa
I remember you from another board! Wow you're trip sounded awesome. Just what I need to see too :)
We are also doing a budget disney vacation and your email has some wonderful tips. Can I ask you where you stayed in Orlando? We're looking at renting a vacation condo with the orlando magic card or staying at Comfort Inn LBV using the same card too because of the discounts? We'll be driving down so no need for airline tix & rental cars.
Thank you so much for the great information it was defintely a great help for me!
Julie
Julie 201/
We stayed at the Masters Inn at Disney Maingate...again it was nothing special, a clean room and a shower. We were hardly ever there so it worked nicely for us. The staff was very nice and helpful. They were very prompt at getting you anything you needed too.
~melissa