[woohoo]

Im so frustrated becasue I am trying to plan my trip using different places to stay and for the first 2 nights of the first stretch of my trip. But because Im a family of 6 I am forced to either spend a fortune on a nice hotel with two rooms - or spend a fortune in a suite or spend little in a hotel that we have stayed at before. My dream would be GF but it appears that this will never be in my cards as a SAHM of 4. And We were planning on Wilderness lodge but that too is very costly for us and the practical side of me says Im nuts- but it is my birthday that we would be staying there. I just wish that there was some magical secret to getting a cheap rate at one of the great hotels. What makes me really sad is that as I sit feeling sorry for myself I really should be greatfull that I can stay on site at all and that I have 4 kids to share it with. I just really would love to know how others do it! How do others spend so much time there and with families - what do they do for a living!!! I am so jealous!!!

[577NitroExpress]

When are you going? Unless you are hard set on staying on WDW proper, check out the Marriott Vacation Club Villas. There are at least four of them within 10 minutes of Downtown Disney.

A two bedroom suite (sleeps 8), with two baths, full living room, kitchen and dining area can be had for as little as $140/night DEPENDING on when you go.

www.marriott.com and search for "Vacation Club" in Orlando, FL.

Not sure if it helps...

[DisneyHog6]

I don't know how people do it either. I know that, if it weren't for us getting in for free thanks to my CM FIL & MIL, it would be hard for us to go as often as we do. Whatever these people do for a living, they sure get paid more than Air Force folks like me do...

[Experiment6-2-6]

Originally Posted by woohoo

Im so frustrated becasue I am trying to plan my trip using different places to stay and for the first 2 nights of the first stretch of my trip. I just wish that there was some magical secret to getting a cheap rate at one of the great hotels.

Unfortunately, the only break I've known about is for Annual Passholders or CastMember Status. Otherwise, your best bet is to splurge for your birthday at one of the Disney spots, then camp at an offsite to save money.

Off all the times I've gone to Disneyland, each and every time for the past four years I've wanted to stay at the Grand Califorinian. Couldn't afford it.

Well, actually, I COULD afford it, but staying there would be at the expense of good food and having a rental car and buying season passes.

The more I've done Disneyland, the more I haven't regretted spending more on my family's vacation activities rather than nifty rooms that I'll appreciate all of two hours before I'm asleep or back in the park.

[pumouse]

OMG! I know what you're saying. I did a loan signing for a house last night, the house cost almost $5,000,000 and the payments are $29,000 A MONTH!! I can't even imagine! My years worth of payments don't add up to that! They were discussing vacation plans and saying, "Let's go somewhere different, we've already been there." Ug!

[jenbarnwell]

I know, we would love to stay at AKL or Poly, but we just cant afford it, I don't even think we are gonna be able to swing a moderate this time, but hey at least we are going!! When I was a child we never got to Disney because my mom couldn't even afford to get us there, so I am happy staying at a Value because I am there! This will be our third year going in a row!

[alandjen]

For all of our trips prior to last year we were "dual income no kids", so we managed to make it work.

While my wife and I were both still in school and dating, they were still running those really great packages with air/room/car on Int'l Drive.

Now that we have kids (soon-to-be 3yo twin daughters and a 4mo old son), we're feeling that same crunch that you are. We got a great rate on a suite at the DoubleTree at DTD last year (much cheaper than even two adjoining rooms at a moderate resort).

We put $40/wk away each week. We're going in September on the Magical Beginnings package and have enough saved up to stay at Contemporary. One concession is that we're driving now (which saves on airfare and rental van). We live just oustide Philadelphia, so it's a doable drive.

[jenbarnwell]

We are also driving to save on airfare, but who knows if we will save, lol. We live in Northern New Jersey

[DisneyTeacher]

Originally Posted by pumouse

OMG! I know what you're saying. I did a loan signing for a house last night, the house cost almost $5,000,000 and the payments are $29,000 A MONTH!! I can't even imagine! My years worth of payments don't add up to that! They were discussing vacation plans and saying, "Let's go somewhere different, we've already been there." Ug!

Only in my wildest dreams.

I know how you are feeling, as teachers we don't make a lot of money compared to most of our friends and family. We save and get one or two vacations in a year but it's not always easy.

Most hotels, Disney or not, are set up for a family of 4. Not every family fits that mold and they are forced to try to find something that fits. I hope you find something that works for your family and makes you happy at the same time.

[Disney4ALL]

frustrated trying to attach pic
how do I delete message?

[alandjen]

We are also driving to save on airfare, but who knows if we will save, lol. We live in Northern New Jersey

AAA has a tool to calculate gas expenses for a driving trip on their website. It's in the Travel section and then maps/directions subsection.

It asks for your departure and destination cities, and make, model and year of car.

I was surprised at how low the figure it gave me was. Given what airfare is running (even on Southwest) I knew we'd save money, but if AAA is right, we may save even more.

FWIW, my uncle who drives down to his place in South Florida from Buffalo every year says to make sure you fill up in South Carolina (much cheaper than once you get into Fla.)

[E&B's Mom]

I think most have less than 6 in their family. The majority don't book two rooms, I think that's the exception rather than the rule. But, then again they don't have the joy that you have with your nice large family!

Don't feel sorry for yourself that you can't afford WL, just be happy you're going to WDW!

[ddoll]

Now that we're older and we only have one kid left that travels with us, we can stay on site. But when we were dragging all three boys, and two of them were man-size with horse-size appetites, we couldn't afford to stay on site at all. We always rented one of those gorgeous pool villas.

It made sense for us in every way: it cost way less, we each had our own room and bathroom, there are laundry facilities, we had our own pool, we could prepare one or two meals there and save more money which allowed us to have some nice Disney meals, DH and I had our privacy, and the kids could unwind on their own.

One trip, after spending a week in a house, we took all the kids and stayed in Dixie Landings for two nights. It was nice to be on property, but it was too crowded for us. Especially after coming from the spaciousness of the house.

[Floridasunshine]

Maybe you should look at non-Disney hotels:

travelzoo has an $89 a night offer for buenavista palace http://hotels.travelzoo.com/orlando-hotels/244148;
here's a pretty good deal at the grosvenor: http://hotels.bookit.com/florida/orl...CID=C14312x150
skyauction.com has some really great deals usually, too.

Do a timeshare thing,,,they basically give you your room for nothing but 1.5 hours of your time ....

There are lots of ways to Disney, just don't set your mind to one thing and you will find other great deals.

[Dopey]

Originally Posted by woohoo

Im so frustrated becasue I am trying to plan my trip using different places to stay and for the first 2 nights of the first stretch of my trip. But because Im a family of 6 I am forced to either spend a fortune on a nice hotel with two rooms - or spend a fortune in a suite or spend little in a hotel that we have stayed at before. My dream would be GF but it appears that this will never be in my cards as a SAHM of 4. And We were planning on Wilderness lodge but that too is very costly for us and the practical side of me says Im nuts- but it is my birthday that we would be staying there. I just wish that there was some magical secret to getting a cheap rate at one of the great hotels. What makes me really sad is that as I sit feeling sorry for myself I really should be greatfull that I can stay on site at all and that I have 4 kids to share it with. I just really would love to know how others do it! How do others spend so much time there and with families - what do they do for a living!!! I am so jealous!!!

I feel for ya, really. I have my own business (granted, we live on a quarter of what we had when employed by others) and don't know how some people do it. And do it more than once.
MissyH is a good one to ask, she stays for weeks on end during high season even