10 Days @ Disney for $2000?

[atcwag]

My husband and I are really trying to take a longer honeymoon (we went to Atlantic City for 3 days after the wedding) in the winter/early spring. Our dates are very flexible to maximize our budget. We are really hoping to go for 10 days and to keep the entire vacation under $2000 (including lodging, food, airfare from PA, etc.) I am hoping Disney will extend free dining so we can take advantage of that. Everything I have heard/read says to stay @ a Disney resort to maximize savings and take advantage of offers and transportation. We are also hoping to rent a car for 1 day and go to Universal Studios. Does anyone think this is feasible? And if so, how?

I got a quote from a Disney travel site which included:
* 9 nights @ a value resort
* 6 days of Disney park tickets w/ park hopper option
* Disney dining plan
* other various perks

The quote (not including airfare) was just under $2500 Please help!

[amylynne01]

Disney has different seasons, with the busiest seasons being the most expensive. The priciest times are Christmas/New Years, Thanksgiving, Easter, spring breaks (really early March to late April), and summer. If you can go in late January or early February, you will get the cheapest rates. Check out allears.net and mousesavers.com.

The park hopper option is $55 per person, so if you drop that, there's $110. I would skip the car rental and Universal. A one day Universal ticket is around $90 times two plus the rental, or you could get another Disney day for a couple of bucks. The price per Disney day drops dramatically when you add on days. The price difference between a 6 day ticket and a 10 day ticket is $34 per person.

I just priced a 10 night trip at a value resort from 1/20 to 1/30 with a 9 day park ticket (no hopper) and the quick service dining plan (2 counter service meals and 1 snack per person per night), and I got a total of $2300 plus flights. This price is paying rack rate for everything. Disney gives one discount - room OR dining, not both. If no free dining is offered, you can get a room discount by booking through AAA. They also offer some discounts and send PIN codes (specific discounts) to certain customers.

You can do it - you just have to be a little more creative than just calling 1-800-DISNEY and booking.

[atcwag]

Disney has different seasons, with the busiest seasons being the most expensive. The priciest times are Christmas/New Years, Thanksgiving, Easter, spring breaks (really early March to late April), and summer. If you can go in late January or early February, you will get the cheapest rates. Check out allears.net and mousesavers.com.

The park hopper option is $55 per person, so if you drop that, there's $110. I would skip the car rental and Universal. A one day Universal ticket is around $90 times two plus the rental, or you could get another Disney day for a couple of bucks. The price per Disney day drops dramatically when you add on days. The price difference between a 6 day ticket and a 10 day ticket is $34 per person.

I just priced a 10 night trip at a value resort from 1/20 to 1/30 with a 9 day park ticket (no hopper) and the quick service dining plan (2 counter service meals and 1 snack per person per night), and I got a total of $2300 plus flights. This price is paying rack rate for everything. Disney gives one discount - room OR dining, not both. If no free dining is offered, you can get a room discount by booking through AAA. They also offer some discounts and send PIN codes (specific discounts) to certain customers.

You can do it - you just have to be a little more creative than just calling 1-800-DISNEY and booking.

We are really hoping to go to Universal. Who knows when we will be back in FL and we really want to go to the new Harry Potter section of the park.
We are also really hoping to at least get the 1 table service/1 counter service/1 snack option.....I don't think the quick service only will do it for us.

[amylynne01]

Then $2000 will be tough. If you stay at a value, you can get the quick service meal free, but you can upgrade at a cost to the basic (1 ts/1qs/1 snack). It doesnt always make sense to do the dining plan either. On allears, they have menus for every wdw restauranr. Price out what youd eat, and compare it to the cost of the ddp. Tips, appetizers, and alcohol are not included, so budget for those.

I would also go to disboards.com. Its a forum all about Disney, so you can get some more ideas.

[fungirl2727]

Well I think that would be hard I would raise your budget for another 700 bucks or stay less days.
I live close to disney world so if I ever take my kids we will be driving so we can save atleast a grand.

[amylynne01]

I was thinking about this last night since I love Disney lol. I really don't know if you can do all you want on just $2000 for 10 days. Let's pretend your flights are $400. That leaves you $1600. A hotel room at a value is around $90 a night for 9 nights or $810. That leaves you $790. A 6 day ticket is $260 times two or $520. That leaves you $270, and you haven't eaten yet. If you add in Universal at $90 times two or $180, you have $90 for food for 2 for 10 days at Disney.

If you want to do everything you've listed, you will have to increase your budget. If you can't increase your budget, something has to go. If you stay for 8 days, you'll save $180 off your hotel costs, which is the cost of Universal. You could camp at Fort Wilderness for $40ish a night. You could have groceries delivered to your room to cover breakfast and lunch and only eat out dinner (so not getting the DDP).

[kookiecrisp]

I personally think 10 days is too long @ Disney! Everytime we've gone, after about the 4th or 5th day, everyone is ready to come home!! There are only 4 parks to visit and most of them you can do the whole park in a day. Granted we could do AK and HS 3 different days cause they are our favorites but still 10 days is a long time LOL
I would definitely recommend the dining plan as it really does save you money. I would do one sit down meal a day as well as eating all that fast food gets old quick!!!
If you book through AAA and an offer comes along later down the road for free dining, they can add that promotion to your account and refund you the difference. We had that happen last year and got back over $800!!
Also if you get the dining plan, call as soon as you can (180 days) to get reservations as some restaurants fill up very quickly!!
Have fun :-)

[marj]

Hello OP! :)
My family of 4 are going to WDW on December, we are spending 7 days in WDW and 2 days in Seaworld. My budget is $4000.00. If I can make it all happen under my budget I will be thrilled!
I have booked my flights, hotel (ouside of the park, has free breakfast) and 7 day tickets to WDW and I have spent roughly $2,800.
I still need the car , SW tickets and food.
Like the hotel that I wanted was about $89/day with my AAA card. I kept on checking everyday and one time it went down to $78, I nooked it at once because that was within my budget.
So just keep checking, persistence will pay off and have a good time at WDW.
I believe you can do it. You just have to keep looking for a deal.

[justmama]

Our family of 4 (me, dh, ds12, ds9) went the 3rd week of January.

We drove from VA.
We stayed 7 nights
We had 7 day hopper to 4 parks
We did the upgraded free dining.
We paid $2200.
Our additional OOP for tips, gitfs, etc was $200.

We also used about $300 on our Disney reward card that had points for using our Disney Visa.

[mom2lucas]

I saw an update from a travel agent last night that said free dining had been extended through MARCH!!! :O Select dates only, so I would definitely check into that.