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I have had some request to share what we have planned for our Disney trip, so today I will be sharing the things we have accomplished in planning our trip to Disneyworld. The anticipation and planning the trip are all part of the fun. I think my son Austin is more excited than anyone, he created the Disney countdown out of Lego’s (above) to track how many more days until we leave on our vacation. He changes it everyday. Fun stuff!
Here are the things we have accomplished:
Lodging – When I started the Disney on a Budget series, I mentioned that staying off property would save you money. I didn’t know that there would be so many people passionate about staying on property. I will admit that staying on site would be lots of fun and probably easier to get around, but it isn’t something that worked out for our family at this time. It just didn’t make sense with a family of 7 (3 of which are teenagers) to pay so much to barely fit into a Disney hotel.
We are thrilled with the 5 bedroom home we are renting, in the community of Windor Hills. The community has a pool with a water slide, but the home we rented has it’s very own pool too. The kids will love it! We used VRBO.com (Vacation Rentals by Owner) to find the home, thanks so much to some suggestions from some of you. By renting the home directly from the owners we are saving more money than using a service. We ended up paying less than half what it would cost us to stay at a Disney hotel that would have fit our family of 7 (just barely fitting – it requires 2 kids to sleep on the pull out couch). I figured the savings on the Disney sale rate of 30-40% off the rooms. The home has been booked and paid for!
Travel – Our flights have been booked using miles that my husband had earned (for a very long time) with his Visa card. We were short a few miles, so we did have to pay a small amount out of pocket. Airline tickets are bought and paid for!
Rental Car – Thanks to tips from lots of you, I checked out betterbidding.com, before I bid on a rental car (minivan) at Priceline. I got a great deal! I would have never have thought to use Priceline (or betterbidding.com) for the rental car, so a BIG THANKS to those that suggested it. Rental car is booked and paid for!
Dining – I have made advance reservations for 3 Disney meals at Chef Mickey’s, Whispering Canyon Cafe & 50’s Prime Time cafe. We will be paying for these with the $100 gift card I got for signing up for the Disney visa card, Disney Visa Rewards, and Disney cards that I earned through swagbucks. We are also plan to eat at other restaurants with restaurtant.com gift certificates and TGIFriday’s with gift cards that I got for FREE from MyPoints. Lots of meal plans have been taken care of and will be paid for with FREE gift cards and such.
Planning – We’ve narrowed down where we will go each day and some of the activities we will do.
Still need to do:
Disneyworld Tickets – I am just waiting until I have all the money I need to pay for the admisssion tickets into the park. I have half of the money saved, so I just need to save a little more and then I will purchase the tickets.
Universal Tickets – We plan on heading to Universal Studios one day, so we can see the Harry Potter theme park and other attractions. Still saving the money for these.
Now that I have most of the travel plans done, I need to know what are some of the must see items at Disneyworld. I would love to hear some of your families favorite things to do, see and eat at Disneyworld. Please share!!
