Don't know how we're going to do this?? help

[adamkat]

Ok so we are trying to plan if we can afford to go to WDW in October/November for our 15th wedding anniversary. Our honeymoon was there and we haven't been there in 8 years.
We would be leaving from Toronto Hubby me and our two boys 13 &11.
Want to go for 8 days, stay at POP century, do MNNSHP, at least one character breakfast, Star Wars big on hubbys list.

What are everyones best saying tips, tricks.
We have air miles card and pc optimum card.
I got some Disney gift cards for Christmas put away

I feel like it is so expensive there has to be a better way to go and not spend the cost of a downpayment for a house. (in small town area lol)

ANy ideas tips or ideas are greatly appreciated.

 

[hdrolfe]

I'd suggest getting your tickets sooner than later, while the Canadian discount is still available. If you have enough airmiles for even one ticket it's a savings! Book the room you want and watch for discounts. Use Disney gift cards to save the extra fees on exchange rate. If you are Onyx (or get there) with Airmiles, you can use airmiles to buy MNNSHP tickets. Figure out where you want to eat, and do the math on it, check menus to see how much you are likely to spend, and be honest about that, don't assume you will just eat kids meals to save money or something. Though you can of course do that See if it would be beneficial for you to do a dining plan (probably isn't).

Actually you could use airmiles for hotel, tickets, MNSSHP and flights... if you have a lot of them If not, pick your priority. I got a child and adult MNSSHP tickets last year for 2500 airmiles. There were others who got them as well who might give an idea of how much just the adult ones would be (obviously they'll be more since everything goes up at Disney).

Your flights shouldn't be too bad, TO to MCO you should be able to get direct flights at decent times for not too much at that time of year, keep an eye on prices and maybe use an app like Hopper to tell you when to book.

If you plan to do a Droid or Lightsaber it's expensive, so make sure to save for that. I got the gift card instead of mousekeeping and it was $60 USD towards the droid kiddo wanted.

And accept that it is expensive.

 

[mort1331]

Look at flights out of buffalo. Frontier is cheap nofrills but will get you there safe. Or you could drive and save a bunch too. We drive half the time...this is a very big savings

 

[ottawamom]

Convert the cash from your optimum cards into Disney GC buy using Optimum points to pay for your groceries. Then take the cash you didn't have to use to pay for your groceries to pick up a Disney GC. Your Optimum points is bonus money (assuming you don't pruchas things you don't need for the points).

 

[SleeplessInTO]

Annual passes are pretty pricy and may not be cheaper than 8 day tickets but consider if getting just one AP makes sense financially (discount on food, merchandise, Memory Maker, party tickets, room only discounts, etc)

 

[deedubb]

Definitely look into flying out of Buffalo.

What kind of park people are you...rope drop to park close or mid-late morning arrival with some early nights. If the latter, do you absolutely need to stay on-site? For less than the cost of a Disney value resort, you can get a 3-bdrm with in-suite laundry, full kitchen. You can get groceries and make breakfast before you leave for the park, and if you have an early night, make dinner back at the hotel or go to an off-site restaurant for 1/4 of the cost.

If you must stay on-site, order groceries and bring PB sandwiches for breakfast, and pack snacks so you don't end up spending $$ on things like pretzels, ice cream, churros, etc.

 

[starvenger]

I feel like it is so expensive there has to be a better way to go and not spend the cost of a downpayment for a house. (in small town area lol)

Glad you joked about the small town area. Although I think down payments are expensive even as far north as Bradford.

 

[A&CsMom]

Check out Allegiant Air (out of Niagara Falls) and Swoop out of Hamilton for flights.