High Schoolers Senior Trip

[neverlandtodisney]

Hello, I am currently a junior in high school and my friends and I are planning a trip for early June 2020 (like the second week-ish) for after we graduate high school. We obviously don't have that much money to spend on this trip. We are all getting jobs at minimum wage because we are all spending our own money to fund this trip. We want to stay on property (but NO all stars) and we want to have 5 park days in Disney and 2 in Universal. We already know about sharing meals/using snacks as full meals, but we are looking for more tips on how to spend our very little money wisely. All will be appreciated.

 

[starry_solo]

How many of you will be going? Most room occupancy is 4, unless you get a suite.
Where are you coming from? State that is? Will you be driving or flying?

 

[neverlandtodisney]

How many of you will be going? Most room occupancy is 4, unless you get a suite.
Where are you coming from? State that is? Will you be driving or flying?

Right now there are three of us but we are hoping to have 4 for the convenience of ride seating. We only want to get one room. We are from New England. Since we are going to be 18 or 17, our parents don't want us driving all the way down to Florida on our own, so we will be flying (and trying to find the cheapest flights possible)

 

[starry_solo]

Ok, does the 18 year old have a credit card? You *may* need it to check in.

Flights will be dependent on where you are coming from. New England area isnt usually too expensive to fly from but it could be up to $500 per person.

Ask for $ for gifts...birthday, holidays, etc. Try to get second "jobs" - babysitting, washing cars, doing yard work, shoveling sidewalks, etc.

As long as you're staying on property, then you'll get magical Express to transfer you to and from airport and hotel. Something to potentially look for is "free dining" promotions for the value resorts during the time you want to go.

 

[unrequited23]

Use Amazon Prime Now to order breakfast foods/snacks. Start watching airfare now to see the patterns in discounts, plus which days it's cheaper to fly. We tend to fly Frontier which typically has the lowest prices when they first release dates to fly from our hometown to MCO. Other routes have the lowest prices at other times. I would really think about those Universal days...there will be extra transportation costs plus the cost of tickets. At Disney the price difference between a 5 day ticket and a 7 day ticket is probably around $50 depending on the time of year. I'm guessing a 2 day Universal ticket would be around the $200 mark. Also, hotel prices are higher on the weekends, so booking a Tuesday-Wednesday stay would be cheaper than a Saturday-Sunday stay because you are staying less weekend nights.


The cost of the trip when you first start adding it up will seem huge. Don't get discouraged. Try to think of every little bit as something for your trip...I earned $5--that's a mickey bar, I've saved $50--that's one night's share of the hotel, etc.

 

[MrsPete]

Calculating the cost of the trip is step one:

Tickets will be your biggest expense. Arriving in June and wanting 5-days in Disney, you'll pay about $400 (that's basic tickets, no park hopping). Universal tickets don't really come in a 2-day option, and a 3-day will cost you about $270.

Options to lower this cost:
- Stick to Disney alone; you could add more days to Disney less expensively than you could do both parks.
- Don't do the parks every day -- realistically, 5-day tickets are "just right" for a one-week stay; for example, if you go to the parks on your first and last day (your travel days), you're spending a ticket for a partial day (especially once you add in transportation around the . Instead, do something at a resort on those first /last days ... you can visit Disney Springs without a ticket, you can watch fireworks without a ticket, you can visit other resorts without a ticket, etc.
- Plan a mid-week no-park day ... sleep in, visit a water park (less expensive than a "real park"), then have a nice dinner.
- Plan your days; that is, make the most of every day you "spend a ticket" ... okay, this isn't a money-saving tip, but it's a make-the-most-of-what-you-spend tip.

Hotel ... someone else asked about a credit card ... will Disney take reservations from 18-year olds? I really don't know. Staying on property is probably smart because it'll include your transportation, and it allows you to split up into smaller groups. Why are you against the least expensive hotels on property? Your intended ticket purchase makes me think you intend to go-go-go all the time ... why, then, not choose the All-Stars, if it's just going to be a place to crash and shower?

This isn't a money-saving tip, but it's important: If you're looking to get an inexpensive place to stay, you need to make your reservations EARLY. Making reservations this summer isn't too soon. LOTS of people want those least expensive rooms.

Food at Disney is more expensive than you expect. You can check out menus online; don't ignore taxes and tips. If you add 15-20% to what you see on the online menus, you'll be just about right. You mentioned meal sharing; note that sometimes sit-down places add a dollar or two for the extra plate -- yeah, stingy. Kids's meals are a budget option, and they usually include a drink. Bringing your own snacks from home is probably your cheapest option. You can order groceries ahead of time /have them delivered to your room. On park days, you can ask for free ice water at any fast food restaurant.

On that subject, take everything you think you'll need: Aspirin, sunscreen, etc. These things are so cheap at home, but extremely expensive to buy on Disney property.

You intend to fly? That's expensive too. Don't neglect ground transportation; that is, how will you get from the airport to Disney's property? Consider, too, transportation between Disney and Universal.

At a glance ... I'd estimate you'll need about $1500/person + the plane flight. This'd give you tickets for both Disney and Universal, 1/4 of an All-Stars room, and food -- and an Uber or two, but no souvenirs or fancy meals.

 

[kymom99]

My son’s friends went to Disney after graduation and stayed at ASMovies. So am pretty sure an 18 year old will be able to get a room.

 

[Best Aunt]

Eat breakfast in the room. PP mentioned having Amazon Prime deliver food to your hotel. If you don't have Amazon Prime, there are other options for having groceries delivered to your hotel. There often is a post on that over on the DVC Mouscellaneous Board. (DVC rooms have kitchens so people staying in them often have groceries delivered.)

Sharing meals? Using snacks as meals? I think you're better off budgeting for a quick service lunch and a quick service dinner for each person. I don't think the portions are so big that you should assume you can share. If you do share, you'll be hungry later. Snacks aren't cheap. Table service restaurants will kill your budget.

This website has menus and pricing: http://allears.net/dining/menu

If you want to stay at a Disney hotel but spend days at Universal you have to factor in the cost of transportation. This website gives you an idea of what transportation costs are: https://ride.guru/

You might already know this, but glancing at airfare doesn't always give you the full picture. An airline like Allegiant, for example, charges extra for a carry-on bag, for a checked bag, and to be able to choose your seat. This isn't obvious when you glance at the price.

 

[WVMomof3]

Last I checked, Disney does allow 18 year olds to rent a room but at Universal you need to be 21. That could have changed, but I would check. Not all hotels let 18 year olds check in.

 

[Cruising Engineer]

Plan what you want to do with the advise from PPs. Save every penny you have. Get a jar (mayonnaise size) decorate it with Disney stickers, and put all your loose change in it (ask you parents for their loose change). It will add up. Watch the gift card deals : https://www.disboards.com/threads/disney-gift-card-deals.2941964/page-1877 to change you money into Disney gift cards at a reduced cost. It's too easy to just pull a $20 out of your savings to go have pizza with the group and "promise" to replace it. Let you family know your plan and ask for $$$ or Disney GCs for special occasions and rewards (all A's on a report card). Study hard and graduate. You can do this.

 

[Disneylvr1971]

Book as soon as you can. You don't need to pay all up front. Only a deposit. If you are looking at putting 4 into a room, Pop Century has new refurbished rooms with Queen beds as does some at All Star Movies. If you are flying and have extra room in luggage you can bring some snacks in there. As others stated I would ask for gift cards for special occasions. You can use them to help pay for tickets, room, meals, etc. ME is free from the airport to Disney, you can split an Uber or Mears has taxi's from Disney to Universal.

 

[Hikergirl]

Check sites like Expedia because when you bundle your airfare and room it can be cheaper than booking through WDW and your own airfare.
I just looked for June this year flying out of Logan and staying Sun-Sat in Caribbean Beach for $587 per person $2347 total.
Booking CB just the room through WDW that same week is $1745 total so you'd have to add your airfare.
I don't know where you are flying out of, but $600 RT for 4 people is unheard of where I do, it's more like $600 per person, but if you can find airfare that low then booking through Expedia isn't much of a savings.

For your park tickets I wouldn't buy through WDW, go through Undercover Tourist and get a discount.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I am currently in the early stages of planning a trip to Universal. (We have been there many times but it's been a while.) I did see that they're currently offering a ticket promo: Buy 2 days, get 2 days free. Maybe spending more time at Universal and less at Disney could make this worthwhile for you. Undercover Tourist is offering it too and cheaper than buying it directly from Universal. If any of you belong to AAA, you should inquire about a AAA discount at Uni for hotel rooms. Not sure if they still do but they used to offer that.

I agree with others about checking on flights now and check various dates. It can vary a lot. Generally speaking, Tues & Wed are the cheapest days to fly. Balance that with hotel prices being lower Sunday - Thursday. Friday & Sat nights at hotels are sometimes much higher. If you keep checking often enough, you will immediately recognize a good deal when you see it and be ready to pounce on it. A few hours later it might be gone.
A pp mentioned reading thoroughly about the airline you book. Know how much luggage fees, seat selection fees if desired, change fees if necessary. You can factor all of this into the total price of flying.
I agree with the pp who mentioned packing as much food as you can. A box of cereal, instant oatmeal (run hot water through the coffee maker) and some PB & J will help cut down on meal costs big time. (Seriously, I have packed a loaf of bread in a carry-on!)

There are many ways to save and splurge at both parks. Some folks prefer a cheap hotel and splurge on character meals. Others value a higher resort level and are happy to pack some food in order to save on that end. There's no "right" or "wrong" way to do it, just a matter of taste and priorities, but if you're not all in agreement then it will be hard to please both sides. It's good to have a group discussion of this in the early stages.

First thing though is to check if an 18 yr old can check into a Universal hotel. You need to know this before you make any more plans. Three of their hotels include unlimited Express Line privileges. (Royal Pacific, Hard Rock & Portofino Bay). That is heavenly if you can swing it even just one night. That gives you 2 full days of Exp Line: the day you check in and the day you check out. Skipping the lines drastically cuts down on the amount of time you need there overall.

 

[Sparkly]

I'm not sure you'll be able to do both sets of parks on a limited budget. Disney is expensive enough, but then adding Universal as well could cost too much. Consider which of the two theme park resorts is more important to you and choose that one.

 

[sjrec]

My daughter and three of her friends did this after graduation and had a wonderful time.
We went through a travel agent and she got them a very good deal. You might want to see what they can do for you. They stayed at one of the All Stars and had no complaints. From the pictures it looked cute. Between the parks and water parks they spent very little time in the room. I’m not sure why you wouldn’t consider them? They didn’t feel the need to sit down every night for dinner and picked two that appealed to all of them. And if you are interested in character meals, breakfast and lunch would be cheaper. If you’re not big breakfast eaters bringing cereal bars is a money saver for sure.
I hope you get to do this-we drove them home from the airport and I’ll never forget their tired, happy faces coming off the plane!

 

[neverlandtodisney]

My son’s friends went to Disney after graduation and stayed at ASMovies. So am pretty sure an 18 year old will be able to get a room.

that's amazing news lol. i have a debit card so we were hoping to just pay with that and gift cards that we get

 

[neverlandtodisney]

I'm not sure you'll be able to do both sets of parks on a limited budget. Disney is expensive enough, but then adding Universal as well could cost too much. Consider which of the two theme park resorts is more important to you and choose that one.

the reason why we are doing both parks is because i am a huge disney fan and i really wanted to go on a graduation trip to disney, but the friends i am going with LOVE intense rides and disney doesn't offer those for them

 

[JinxedSydney]

the reason why we are doing both parks is because i am a huge disney fan and i really wanted to go on a graduation trip to disney, but the friends i am going with LOVE intense rides and disney doesn't offer those for them

Eh, there is at least one intense ride at each Disney park, but not a cluster of them.

As for All Stars, I stayed there myself in Sept., at Music. Thought I'd tolerate it--and LOVED it. Food court was great. Busses were timely. Between my work conference and park time, I never spent time in the pools, so I can't speak for those. But you might reconsider for the price! As a reference, I usually stay at moderates, but the ASM is the only thing my boss would spring for.

 

[neverlandtodisney]

additionally, there is the debate between me and my friend over staying on property vs an air b&b. my arguments for staying on property are obviously free transportation and earlier fastpass bookings (amongst all the rest), while her reasonings are that they are cheaper and that ubering and lyfting won't cost that much, especially with one free ride for everyone. has anyone tried both methods?

 

[kokomos]

Disney resorts are probably the only place in the world you can stay at 18. I doubt air b&b will be an option. If you totally against value resorts check into renting DVC points for Saratoga’s Springs. It maybe a lil cheaper than a moderate resort.