Single Mom Trying To Take My Kids To Disney, Need Some Help Plz!?
Ok I’m a single mom of 3 and I’ve been wanting to take my kids to Disney so this is the year. I can’t go until Aug and I’m on a very strict budget. I want the kids to experience Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom. I don’t want to stay on Disney property though (it’s costs too much) any ideas where? It doesn’t have to be some fancy hotel but I do have to have a hotel with free breakfast (because of costs) and free parking and microwave and refrigerator in room (for baby). My gas to get there will be about $300 round trip so can someone help me with my total budget of $2500 (minus gas) how to separate for tickets and food ….and room ….?? I know it can be done I just need some help from people who know how to save bucks and knows Disney. Thank you!
I would highly recommend camping at Walt Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort and Campground. You will save so much time and money, not having to take public transportation into the parks! You will also have the advantage of the Disney perks like Extra Magic Hours and free transportation. If you don’t have camping gear, either borrow some, or buy it MOST inexpensively from someplace like Walmart (you don’t need extreme weather gear for Florida!). You can cook breakfast at your campsite, pack lunches into the parks and only eat one meal inside the parks (use the counter service restaurants instead of the sit-down restaurants…they are much cheaper.) Your kids will love the experience! I’ve camped at four of my six trips to Disney World…twice with my infant granddaughter.
Your children aged two and under are free into the parks. Stick with the basic tickets…park hopper costs quite a bit more…and plan on spending one full day at each park.
Have a good trip!
you might try the Caribe Royale or Buena Vista Suites – they are next door to each other – offer breakfast – the hotels are nice with great pools for the kids so for the days you don’t go to Disney they’ll have something to do – they also offer complimentary shuttle service to Disney – also these are suites so you can probably take food with you to save some money
You are going to save SO much time staying at a Disney resort. check out the value resorts. really is a much better deal than any off site hotel. You can not believe the long amount of time it will take you to get to the parks from a hotel off of disney property. especially since you will be alone with 3 kids. since you are driving, bring most of your food with you.
That’s great that you’re going to Disney!!
Disney World has been running some really great specials lately. Last September my family went to Disney. They were running a special dining plan. You can stay at a Disney value resort like the pop century, which starts at $82 a night. The dining plan includes a sit down meal (like the character dinners etc.) a counter service meal (like fast food) and a snack (like a Popsicle, popcorn, etc.) Depending on the age of your kids, it pays to stay at the resort and get your food included, since you can easily rack up quite the food bill. Another nice thing about staying on property is that transportation is taken care of. As your dates get closer, be on the lookout for specials and deals they may be having at http://www.waltdisneyworld.com
First off, you should narrow down what you would like, how many park days, (the price becomes “cheaper” the more days you go) A great way to save money on food is by splitting meals and eating the kids meals. I’m not sure about other resorts, but I know Disney allows you to bring your own food for breakfast, and make it using the toasters, etc. in the Cafeteria. My family brought bread, bagels, etc. It’s really great. Don’t be afraid to bring food with you to Disney!
You may have trouble finding an inexpensive resort that includes a refrigerator and microwave. Often, hotels may charge you by the night (around $10-15) so you may want to look into just purchasing your own cheap one, or bring an ice chest, since most hotels have free ice.
Allears.net has great information about all of Disney to help you get the most out of your trip.
Also, tripadvisor.com is a great source for info on hotels, disney, etc.
Hope you have a magical vacation!!
Something you might want to consider – you can rent a house or villa for just a little bit more than the cheapest Disney hotels, and you will have a full kitchen. Then, you can go grocery shopping. Eat breakfast and dinner at your house, and then just eat a counter-service (which is the cheapest) meal at the parks, and maybe a snack (or you can buy snacks and bring them with you). You will save lots of money on food this way, plus your kids will have more room and will get to enjoy the house. You might actually spend one day just at the house, in between your park days, and there will be plenty for them to do. We always find that spending a few dollars more on a house saves us lots and lots of dollars on food.
A way to save money would be to wait until late August. The first week or two of August is still very busy. If you could wait until mid-August, prices tend to drop and it tends to be a little more pleasant in the parks.
If you are only going to 2 parks, but are there for 5 days, what are you going to do? Are you going to buy a 5-day ticket and just go back-and-forth between the two parks, or are you going to buy a 2-day ticket and do something else the other 3 days? You will see all the ticket prices on Disney’s website, and you can see that once you get up to 3 days or more, the cost is small to add on days (cost per day goes down the more days you buy). So you might be able to go to another park or two if you want. Children 2 or under are free.
Right now, for a 3-day base ticket, it’s $233adult /$199 kid a ticket, but for a 4-day ticket it is only $239 adult/$204 kid. Here’s all the ticket prices and options: http://allears.net/pl/ticketchart.htm#to…
Also, don’t know if you realize, but tickets are not date-stamped or anything, so you could even buy one at a time online if that helps you at all.
There are plenty of ways to do Disney on a budget.
My first piece of advice would be to rent a house. You can actaully rent a small condo or something as well in secure resorts for any range in your budget.
I chose a house through Villa Direct, at Emerald Island resort. http://www.villadirect.com/vacation_home…
It would end up being $841.65 for a 5 night stay. It is close to the Pool and Club house, which has a gym, internet access, tvs, vending machines, a full pool and poolside bar. The house itself looks out to the ravine.
In the area, there are both Wal Mart Supercenters and Super Target’s close by for grocery shopping on a budget. This way, you can buy some stuff for breakfast and dinner.
Depending on what age your kids are, you can actually share some of the meals. I would try and do one special meal, considering your working hard to save up for this trip; do one at the magic kingdom! Make reservations and that will be your treat for the week. Counter service is the cheapest.
To save on snacks, bring granola bars and refillable water bottles into the park for when you get thirsty waiting in line or in between meals.
As for tickets,if you have kis under 3; which you say for the baby; will be free, and kids 3-9 have a reduced ticket price. You will pay full days admission for you.
Tickets for 2 days end up being $422, so you could do the Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom on their respective days. If you were looking for other things to do with your kids, theres lots of mini golfing around and swimming is fun too.
As for souveniers, Wal Mart and Target both carry many of the things that you can find in the park. So by renting a house and buying groceries, you will save money in the long run.
If you dont want to cook, theres always the generic stuff – McDonalds, Burger King, Steak and Shake, Dennys, Golden Corral, where you can eat a large meal if you want for less money.
You could always check out the
For additional planning , check out http://allears.net for some great tips on visiting Disney.
OR
If you really have your heart set on staying at a hotel, check out the Seralago. Although it is definatly not a Hilton, it is clean and family oriented, plus for 5 days it would only be $357.08, to stay at a kids suite. It has a microwave, mini-fridge, free parking and is VERY close to Disney.
They are also running a promotion where you stay 5 nights and pay for 4. The website is http://www.seralagohotel.com, and it’s worth looking into, especially because you are on a budget. It does not have free breakfast, however, since you have a fridget you could buy milk and keep cereal and other snacks in your room. It’s very close to a lot of fast food restaurants as another option. Everything I mentioned about the parks you could still do the same – especially about having a special dinner with your kids and doing counter service and splitting meals between your kids. My friend and I visited Typhoon Lagoon in the summer (we’re 18) and we could have shared the chicken finger and fries meal that we both got because the portion sizes are so big compared to that at home(Canada).
I have visited Florida every year since 2 years old, so if you have any questions dont hesitate to ask them, I’ve stayed at a variety of places around Orlando (good and bad!)
Another thing that you’ll have to add in is the parking. It is currently $13 per day (for the whole day at any park) so remember to take that into consideration for your budget!
I hope this helps!
It sounds like money is tight for you, and no wonder, if you are single with three kids.
Don’t waste your money on a Disney vacation. I am more than certain that you need it for more important things. Your kids will not suffer if they never get to the Magic Kingdom, trust me. I would not take my kids there even if we could all go for free.
The economy has hit WDW pretty hard. They are constantly offering very good deals to stay on site. I would suggest keeping an eye on the specials. In April the dates for free dining in the fall should be released. If you could travel during free dining and booked a room in one of the value resorts, you would spend less money than staying off site. The value resorts are not that much more than than the cheap off site motels. You would have the added security of being within the WDW property and you would have free reliable transportation from your resort to the parks. Many off the off site motels that offer transportation only off a few shuttles a day. Also you would have to pay $13 a day to park at WDW if you drove your own car. Parking is included if you stay on site.
You can check for the specials and discount codes at: http://www.mousesavers.com/