Keeping the reason in mind?

OP here- thanks for the input everyone. To add some details, it will be me and the 3 kids (11, 9, 4) by ourselves. We're going to pay the extra money to stay on property (at a value, we're cool with tight quarters) so the kids get the whole experience and not a mom on the verge of road rage. We won't have a car but DH is dropping us off at the beginning of the week with as many groceries as we can fit in the room. We will be packing all food and drinks into the stroller unless we save up enough to do a very few special meals (I'm thinking BoG and a snack in 'France', not CRT or Ohana). The kids will have/be getting their own spending money but I doubt they'll be buying much. We are already planning on making dresses and t-shirts (ODD is a crafter) so those won't be a temptation. So our expenses will really just be park tickets and hotel. I'm going to let the kids lead. I'm going to let them look at pictures from previous trips and watch them ooh and aah over the little moments and skip over the pictures of the rides. I'm hoping that with a year to work on it, I won't be that parent dragging their overtired kids through the parks complaining about how much we aren't doing.

I would cost out the difference between a dining plan and what you are spending on food. Two of your kids are young, so that makes a difference in price when planning meals. As a young mom I used to pack lunch when we went to theme parks, etc and we made due, however I am not sure that is always the most cost effective way to do a WDW trip. Upfront maybe, but in total? I am honestly not so sure. If you purchased the QS plan you could combine all of your dining credits and since they are not separating adult from child credit, you probably could make that last for all three meals the entire trip, have the kids get their snacks and that refillable mug for each one might be worth it's weight in Gatorade. I am not a plan pusher, however I do like to make good choices upfront so I am not spending twice in reality. been there, done that, do not want that to happen again. Be very realistic about your grocery shopping costs and what you will order in the parks for a meal.

Look for discounts. There may be plans offered at the value, or room only, depending on the season, so it pays to keep watch.

Give the kids their money in daily envelopes. They can use their money every day, or add the leftover into the next days spending allowance. This will likely to stop all whining. They can spend or save but when the current day's money is gone, it's gone.

Skip hoppers. They cost a lot and take time. If you want to leave a park do so, but return to the same park later in the day. It is a new park at night, IMO.

Once you cost out the trip, do not break it up into individual costs again. It is "the trip" from that point on. If you miss a day in the park because it's hot and the kids are all over the pool, or if you miss special parades, fireworks or attractions in any given park, if you have looked at tickets as a separate price, you may fall into buyers remorse. If the trip is the trip, it makes no difference, if you are happy, the value is there.

Also, be honest with yourself in terms of what you and the family really wants from the vacation. If you will regret packing most meals, then don't convince yourself it will be okay. It will not be. If you will begrudge dining out costs, then do not make them and build the expectation up. The actual experience will nit likely live up to the cost if you do. After a few times listening to my husband telling me what he wants to spend on any given vacation I figured out that he just liked the idea of "going cheap" and not the reality. Make a realistic budget based on your wants and needs, and as you save for it, remember that if you eat home, that is money for Disney. If you watch a redbox movie it is Disney money. We compromise a lot when we save for a trip, because as a family we prefer to have extra treats on vacation, rather than have them at home. I can make any meal special, and throw a movie party with the best of them. Enlist your family so they have an investment in what the end experience is. My little Princesses were on board from the get go. My DH was along for the ride. If I cooked he ate, and saved the dinner money, so no need to worry there! LOL!
 
We stay off-site at a condo, like Windsor Hills community or something similar. We did splurge and get APs but you don't have too. Just made sense because we really enjoy Disney. With the AP we don't feel the 'pressure' to fit it all in. We fly the cheapest airline, Frontier, which has only 1 flight direct to Orlando per day but it's fine. We do try to bring our own snacks and stuff to the park versus buying food there - although we always end up buying at least one or two snack items while in the park. For us we are able to rent a car and stay off site cheaper then staying on site and using the Disney transport.
 
I'd love to know your strategies for saving on food- what you pack in that stays well, where do you eat, etc. We are traveling in August and flying so I'm concerned about food spoilage...

We drive and stay offsite, so that makes things a bit different than those who fly and/or stay on property. At first, we brought a giant cooler and filled it with perishables such as milk, etc...but then we realized that the grocery stores there don't really cost any more than they do at home, so we've stopped packing much food in our van. Since we have a full kitchen, we can do pretty much anything. We usually eat breakfast in the condo/townhouse, as we don't have interest in rope dropping. That can be cereal, eggs, toast, whatever. It's lunch and/or dinner that we'll pack. We pack just about anything. Some examples:

Lunch - PB&J, cold cut sandwich, salad, hot pockets or hot dogs (for the kids), fresh fruit, chips, pretzels.

Dinner - Chicken nuggets, hot pockets, mac n cheese (we use soup size thermoses for all hot stuff), cooked veggies, grilled chicken, something we made in the crock pot, salad, desserts (cookies, brownies), soda...

There could be other things, but those are just examples. We have a large soft sided cooler that works great. The thermoses keep things hot for hours, and we use ice packs for cold stuff...keeps everything cold for hours (we use those curved ones meant for holding 6 packs). We don't always pack dessert, that's something we will sometimes buy in the parks.

As to where we eat. Pretty much any QS place, or any outdoor tables if the weather is nice....they're everywhere (Electric Umbrella, near Pirates in MK, etc....)

Again, we do things most don't, and that's just what works for us. Not only for money, but from what we actually want to eat. Though the fact that we save thousands is a nice bonus, it funds extra trips to WDW. :D
 
We drive and stay offsite, so that makes things a bit different than those who fly and/or stay on property. At first, we brought a giant cooler and filled it with perishables such as milk, etc...but then we realized that the grocery stores there don't really cost any more than they do at home, so we've stopped packing much food in our van. Since we have a full kitchen, we can do pretty much anything. We usually eat breakfast in the condo/townhouse, as we don't have interest in rope dropping. That can be cereal, eggs, toast, whatever. It's lunch and/or dinner that we'll pack. We pack just about anything. Some examples:

Lunch - PB&J, cold cut sandwich, salad, hot pockets or hot dogs (for the kids), fresh fruit, chips, pretzels.

Dinner - Chicken nuggets, hot pockets, mac n cheese (we use soup size thermoses for all hot stuff), cooked veggies, grilled chicken, something we made in the crock pot, salad, desserts (cookies, brownies), soda...

There could be other things, but those are just examples. We have a large soft sided cooler that works great. The thermoses keep things hot for hours, and we use ice packs for cold stuff...keeps everything cold for hours (we use those curved ones meant for holding 6 packs). We don't always pack dessert, that's something we will sometimes buy in the parks.

As to where we eat. Pretty much any QS place, or any outdoor tables if the weather is nice....they're everywhere (Electric Umbrella, near Pirates in MK, etc....)

Again, we do things most don't, and that's just what works for us. Not only for money, but from what we actually want to eat. Though the fact that we save thousands is a nice bonus, it funds extra trips to WDW. :D
Thanks for taking the time to share so much helpful information! I had assumed that we couldn't go into a QS with our outside food, and haven't paid attention to other seating really because we have never brought in meals. For us, dining has been a huge part of the trip and we've enjoyed so many great experiences. But the price to even eat one TS daily, with one other CS meal, is outrageous. I'm playing around to see if a dining plan for just a few days may help. I don't want to cook ( or drive!) on my vacation but also don't want to spend $2000 on food!
 
Thanks for taking the time to share so much helpful information! I had assumed that we couldn't go into a QS with our outside food, and haven't paid attention to other seating really because we have never brought in meals. For us, dining has been a huge part of the trip and we've enjoyed so many great experiences. But the price to even eat one TS daily, with one other CS meal, is outrageous. I'm playing around to see if a dining plan for just a few days may help. I don't want to cook ( or drive!) on my vacation but also don't want to spend $2000 on food!

Just remember, if you only want to use the dining plan for part of your stay, you need to book two separate reservations. The way it is structured the dining plan aligns with the number of nights on your hotel reservation - it doesn't allow you to choose how many days you are paying for. Booking two separate room reservations breaks up the days so that you can add the dining plan to one reservation and not have it on the other. This is what we did for our August trip (the first 4 nights are under a dining plan, the 2nd 4 nights are room only). It might mean that we have to change rooms halfway through our stay, but we are ok with that and the reservations are linked in the notes so that *hopefully* we can just stay in our room the entire time.
 
WDW is expensive, no two ways around it. We are able to not spend a ton on food by generally only doing two real meals (either a brunch and a dinner, or a breakfast and a mid-afternoon meal) with a few snacks thrown in...at QS I often get a kids meal, etc, but we don't go totally budget and do splurge occasionally.
Here's the thing.
On our last trip, it was just me and my older two girls (just shy of 9 and 11 at the time). THEY HELD MY HAND. My 11 year old started refusing to hold my hand at like 5. At Disney, We linked hands and walked.
Now, my mom sent us to Disney last time so it mostly wasn't my money. BUT them holding my hands, smiling? The look on DD's face when she rode Soarin' for the first time? Them about to collapse of exhaustion, sitting on the curb in Epcot taking a water break and cracking each other up? Yep. That trip was worth every penny.
Does that mean Disney is a necessary experience for every child, or that you can't get those things other ways? Absolutely not. But if you can afford it you can truly make some wonderful memories. My girls had a tough couple of years prior to us going and that trip was just amazing.
 
Just remember, if you only want to use the dining plan for part of your stay, you need to book two separate reservations. The way it is structured the dining plan aligns with the number of nights on your hotel reservation - it doesn't allow you to choose how many days you are paying for. Booking two separate room reservations breaks up the days so that you can add the dining plan to one reservation and not have it on the other. This is what we did for our August trip (the first 4 nights are under a dining plan, the 2nd 4 nights are room only). It might mean that we have to change rooms halfway through our stay, but we are ok with that and the reservations are linked in the notes so that *hopefully* we can just stay in our room the entire time.
I thought if you booked two stays in the same resort, same category and they are linked, you must purchase the dining plan for the entire trip. Otherwise, you need to move to a different resort, category or room to keep your trip split.
 


I thought if you booked two stays in the same resort, same category and they are linked, you must purchase the dining plan for the entire trip. Otherwise, you need to move to a different resort, category or room to keep your trip split.

Nope, as long as the two stays are on different reservation numbers you can split your stay at the same hotel. We are staying at ASMu in August under two different reservation numbers, dining plan on one and no dining on the other. Same room request on both reservations, and the reservations linked in the notes.
 
Nope, as long as the two stays are on different reservation numbers you can split your stay at the same hotel. We are staying at ASMu in August under two different reservation numbers, dining plan on one and no dining on the other. Same room request on both reservations, and the reservations linked in the notes.
Hope it works for you. It hasn't for many people. DVC members were instructed that they would be required to either buy the dining plan for the entire stay or none of the stay.
 
Hope it works for you. It hasn't for many people. DVC members were instructed that they would be required to either buy the dining plan for the entire stay or none of the stay.

That might be a peculiarity of DVC. I can attest that it has already worked for me, we only have 4 nights on the dining plan and an 8 night stay booked across 2 reservations at the same resort. We have not been advised that we are "required" to buy anything additional and the trip is fully paid for :)
 
Just remember, if you only want to use the dining plan for part of your stay, you need to book two separate reservations. The way it is structured the dining plan aligns with the number of nights on your hotel reservation - it doesn't allow you to choose how many days you are paying for. Booking two separate room reservations breaks up the days so that you can add the dining plan to one reservation and not have it on the other. This is what we did for our August trip (the first 4 nights are under a dining plan, the 2nd 4 nights are room only). It might mean that we have to change rooms halfway through our stay, but we are ok with that and the reservations are linked in the notes so that *hopefully* we can just stay in our room the entire time.
Thanks- we have a split stay so it would be for one resort and not the other.
 
Hope it works for you. It hasn't for many people. DVC members were instructed that they would be required to either buy the dining plan for the entire stay or none of the stay.
Oh no- even if its two different resorts? That would be a game changer for us :(
 
You might consider renting a condo offsite for much cheaper than a hotel. It would have a kitchen so you can eat breakfast there everyday and save a bundle. It will also have laundry which can be very convenient with kids. If you go this route, I suggest you consider a longer stay because a 10 day ticket is only a little more than a 7 day ticket. It will allow you to see more with a little less frantic a pace. You can also pack snacks and sandwiches for lunch so you only have to buy food once a day. Quick service meals can often be shared and cups of water are free. For your kids' age, I would suggest one splurge of a character breakfast to save time waiting to see characters elsewhere in the park. Also be careful when you choose when to go as that will greatly affect crowd levels and how much you can do. We always did an open to close day with our DD but we made sure to plan certain indoor, air conditioned shows throughout the day (like Carousel of Progress, Tiki and Philharmagic).
 
Lol, my tip is to pay for your trip as far in advance as you can, then intentionally "forget" about how much you spent because it's not fun to think about wasting money! Personally, I think trying to get your "money's worth" out of Disney is a fool's errand, and I don't like to vacation that way. We spend a lot of money to be there, we all know it, but when I'm on vacation i want to relax and have fun and the gung-ho, rope-drop-to-fireworks touring isn't my idea of fun, at least not with kids. We do what we want, see whatever we feel like seeing, schedule as little as possible, and I think we have far fewer meltdowns because of it. But some people do enjoy touring on a strict schedule so you do what you like, whatever makes you happy.
 
Lol, my tip is to pay for your trip as far in advance as you can, then intentionally "forget" about how much you spent because it's not fun to think about wasting money! Personally, I think trying to get your "money's worth" out of Disney is a fool's errand, and I don't like to vacation that way. We spend a lot of money to be there, we all know it, but when I'm on vacation i want to relax and have fun and the gung-ho, rope-drop-to-fireworks touring isn't my idea of fun, at least not with kids. We do what we want, see whatever we feel like seeing, schedule as little as possible, and I think we have far fewer meltdowns because of it. But some people do enjoy touring on a strict schedule so you do what you like, whatever makes you happy.

OMG, my DD and family spent a week at the Poly in July and it was freaking HOT. The used that resot a lot to escape teh heat, but still vacation. Anyway, one nigth they were going back to the resort after fireworks in DHS and DD was chatting with a Mom whose three kids looked like they were just plucked out of a war zone. Mom had booked the Grand, bought a bunch of sandwich meat, etc and packed it in a styrofoam cooler. Changed the ice daily, and packed lunches. Those kids had been dragged out for RD daily, refused to eat their soggy sandwiches because the tasted so awful, and the stayed until park close every day. They had never been allowed to use the pool or enjoy the resort. WHAT????? WDW in July, RD to park close with no food other than your packed lunches, but you paid for the Grand?????? Mom said she wanted to get her money's worth. DD said it was all she could do to keep her mouth closed. That year FD was a DDp for moderates as well as Deluxe. This little family has endured horrible conditions, and spent a fortune to do so, but could have saved money by choosing a less expensive resort, getting out of the heat and still had a lovely parks experience. But Mom got her park tickets moneys worth. SMH
 
OMG, my DD and family spent a week at the Poly in July and it was freaking HOT. The used that resot a lot to escape teh heat, but still vacation. Anyway, one nigth they were going back to the resort after fireworks in DHS and DD was chatting with a Mom whose three kids looked like they were just plucked out of a war zone. Mom had booked the Grand, bought a bunch of sandwich meat, etc and packed it in a styrofoam cooler. Changed the ice daily, and packed lunches. Those kids had been dragged out for RD daily, refused to eat their soggy sandwiches because the tasted so awful, and the stayed until park close every day. They had never been allowed to use the pool or enjoy the resort. WHAT????? WDW in July, RD to park close with no food other than your packed lunches, but you paid for the Grand?????? Mom said she wanted to get her money's worth. DD said it was all she could do to keep her mouth closed. That year FD was a DDp for moderates as well as Deluxe. This little family has endured horrible conditions, and spent a fortune to do so, but could have saved money by choosing a less expensive resort, getting out of the heat and still had a lovely parks experience. But Mom got her park tickets moneys worth. SMH
OMG so sad!!! Last year we started camping at Ft Wilderness and we occasionally stay at a moderate (we have too large a family for a value and don’t want 2 rooms) I would love to stay in a deluxe but just don’t see the value when we spend so little time in the room. We would rather spend money on more days and good food!!! The pools are a big draw for the kids and I make sure we go almost daily. We did a big family vacation at Christmas a couple years ago and my poor nieces and nephews never got to swim. (It was record heat that year and we are from Ohio so swimming in December is a real treat) there’s nothing worse than seeing a family with screaming miserable kids at Disney. I feel so bad for them. It can’t be fun for anyone. Yes it is expensive but you can’t do it all so do the “must dos” and enjoy the family time. (That’s what it’s all about anyway isn’t it)
 
OMG, my DD and family spent a week at the Poly in July and it was freaking HOT. The used that resot a lot to escape teh heat, but still vacation. Anyway, one nigth they were going back to the resort after fireworks in DHS and DD was chatting with a Mom whose three kids looked like they were just plucked out of a war zone. Mom had booked the Grand, bought a bunch of sandwich meat, etc and packed it in a styrofoam cooler. Changed the ice daily, and packed lunches. Those kids had been dragged out for RD daily, refused to eat their soggy sandwiches because the tasted so awful, and the stayed until park close every day. They had never been allowed to use the pool or enjoy the resort. WHAT????? WDW in July, RD to park close with no food other than your packed lunches, but you paid for the Grand?????? Mom said she wanted to get her money's worth. DD said it was all she could do to keep her mouth closed. That year FD was a DDp for moderates as well as Deluxe. This little family has endured horrible conditions, and spent a fortune to do so, but could have saved money by choosing a less expensive resort, getting out of the heat and still had a lovely parks experience. But Mom got her park tickets moneys worth. SMH
It's kind of sad as you see that behavior more than necessary. Guess the parents want their own vision/fantasy of Disney and maybe that's not what their kids want or need:(.


Nope, as long as the two stays are on different reservation numbers you can split your stay at the same hotel. We are staying at ASMu in August under two different reservation numbers, dining plan on one and no dining on the other. Same room request on both reservations, and the reservations linked in the notes.

I did the same thing last July; half of our stay at a monorail hotel to be closer to the nearby parks and half our time at a Boardwalk hotel for easy access to HS, DS, and Epcot. We only did the dining plan for the first part of our WDW visit and made sure we got good dining value by booking more expensive meals like CG brunch, HDDR and a few Signature meals. Bought discounted gift cards for the remainder of our meals and utilised the AP discount. We weren't staying DVC though so can't speak to those rules.

For the OP, you've gotten a lot of good ideas here and I hope they've been of help. Since you plan to have some meals in your room maybe consider freezing one or two dinners like lasagna, stuffed shells, etc that you can either nuke in the food court (it's allowed) or if you've one in the room use it there. With the hotel mini fridges you won't have any freezer space to speak of so just cook for arrival night and maybe the next day's lunch. Since your DH is driving in you may have space for a cooler in the car. Load the perimeter and center with frozen bottles of water/iced tea/etc and place food around and under the bottles; drink the cold liquid as it defrosts. Do a google search for "camping meals or recipes" and you'll find tons of make ahead meals needing little to no reheating with items already in your pantry.

Have fun planning your trip and don't stress it:).
 
OMG, my DD and family spent a week at the Poly in July and it was freaking HOT. The used that resot a lot to escape teh heat, but still vacation. Anyway, one nigth they were going back to the resort after fireworks in DHS and DD was chatting with a Mom whose three kids looked like they were just plucked out of a war zone. Mom had booked the Grand, bought a bunch of sandwich meat, etc and packed it in a styrofoam cooler. Changed the ice daily, and packed lunches. Those kids had been dragged out for RD daily, refused to eat their soggy sandwiches because the tasted so awful, and the stayed until park close every day. They had never been allowed to use the pool or enjoy the resort. WHAT????? WDW in July, RD to park close with no food other than your packed lunches, but you paid for the Grand?????? Mom said she wanted to get her money's worth. DD said it was all she could do to keep her mouth closed. That year FD was a DDp for moderates as well as Deluxe. This little family has endured horrible conditions, and spent a fortune to do so, but could have saved money by choosing a less expensive resort, getting out of the heat and still had a lovely parks experience. But Mom got her park tickets moneys worth. SMH
And those will be ppl who grow up hating WDW asking ppl like us what do we get out of going so often.
 
Disney World is super expensive. You really have to kind of accept that if you want to have a good time and not die of sticker shock when you get your first meal bill. But there are ways to save. Bring your own food, split meals (portions are huge), stay off site (I see places online for like $70 per night, very near WDW) and drive instead of flying. We drive down because with 7 people flights would be ridiculous. We’re DVC, so even without “paying” for our room we still spend about $10000 per trip. We have a big family, and food, tickets and souvenirs for 7 people for 2 weeks is expensive. But to us, it’s so worth it. We have so many great memories because of our trips.
 

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