[Disney Princess]

I know you guys have suggestions, so give me your best shot!

I've been talking to my family about a trip to WDW for over a year now. I wanted to travel in value season around Aug/Sept. of 2004 and stay for ten days. I figure we could comfortably visit the theme parks and experience a few other Disney specialties. I thought a moderate resort would be nice, since we don't know when we'd get to go again and deluxe is just too expensive.

My family includes my grandmother (68 but spry), my two cousins 11 and 15, my mom, two sisters 15 and 18, myself and possibly a few close friends. My guestimate is somewhere between 7 and 10 people. As we begin to get closer I want to have a meeting and decide where we want to stay and some other begining things.

But now as I begin to give them details about the tentative cost I'm getting a lot of half- hearted responses. I know I'm the only Disney freak among them but I'm convinced that once they're there they'll have the time of their lives, so I'm looking for ways to cut costs even more to make it a bit more appealing to their wallets.

Trust me I have been doing my research but I'm wondering if I should by an Annual Pass just for the discount. Would it be worth the money that I would save for the group?

PLEASE Help!

[tinkerbell]

I dont think you could go wrong getting an annual pass to get the reduced room rates. have you seen the post about the fairytale package?

http://www.disneycentral.com/forum/s...&threadid=3903

I am also looking for a post about getting family together to plan a trip to WDW there were some wonderful suggestions on it
if I dont find it maybe someone else will

[ajbdk5]

Welcome to DC DisneyPrincess, that's what I call my daughter:) !!

Okay, I was in a similar situation and I AM going to purchase the AP for the discounted room rates! We are getting 3 rooms at the CBR under my name and AP.

GOD BLESS MICKEY at Mouseketrips!

Figuring all of that out and how and when to watch for the upcoming codes was too stressful with multiple rooms and family,etc. Mickey is handling it all, so now I can enjoy planning PS's!!!;) :p

Good Luck!!!:)

AMY

[tinkerbell]

Originally posted by ajbdk5
Welcome to DC DisneyPrincess, that's what I call my daughter:) !!

Okay, I was in a similar situation and I AM going to purchase the AP for the discounted room rates! We are getting 3 rooms at the CBR under my name and AP.

GOD BLESS MICKEY at Mouseketrips!

Figuring all of that out and how and when to watch for the upcoming codes was too stressful with multiple rooms and family,etc. Mickey is handling it all, so now I can enjoy planning PS's!!!;) :p

Good Luck!!!:)

AMY

ajbdk5 do you know where the post are about getting a family together ..there were some great suggestions .. I cant remember who posted it

[tinkerbell]

I found it :!: :laugh Disney

B]Disney Princess[/b] check out these post ..there are just some wonderful post one thing DC has is incredible people with fantastic ideas !!.. I am sure you will get lots more help too
http://www.disneycentral.com/forum/s...=help+planning[

[ajbdk5]

YEAH!! Glad you found it Tinkerbell!! Good work!;)

Amy

[DisneyTeacher]

To cut costs you could always price a value resort and drop a couple of days off the trip. 7 days is better than none and a value resort is better than nothing. You could price it out several different ways and present it to the group over dinner and take it from there. Set up the All Stars for 10 days and say 7 days and do the same for a moderate, 10 days and 7 days and see what they think.

[mickaholic4077]

If cost is a BIG factor,you might even(horrors!!)consider staying off-site.

[BuzzLightyear]

Hi and welcome to DC !!
I know exactly what you are going though. As you can see from the other thread I am also planning a 2004 vacation with 2 other famalies (11 people)
I also am getting some of the half hearted responses when we finally get to talking about price.
I know that once they are there they will have a great time.

What I've decided to do is book for my family and if the others really want to go they will book the same trip as I did. If not...............I'm still going !!!
To save money read the threads on this board and ask questions. Everyone here has been such a great help to me. And tell everyone that that have a whole year to save up for the trip and can even pay the room bill over time by sending payments in.

Good Luck!!

[preidel24]

Disney Princess have you signed up ay disneyworld.com. They send me updates on packages and of course here you always see the latest offers. As was stated before stay offsite if money is an issue. I would recommend downtown disney. We stayed there (Hotel Royal Plaza - Read Mousesaver.com perferred hotels) I recieved a room rate of (69 dollars +7 resort fee for a total of 76 dollars for a deluxe tower room that easily fit 5) You can also buy lenght of stay passes at downtown disney hotels. It's not a disney hotel but it's the next best thing. You will lose early entry but the bus service we found to be quite good. You can also walk to downtown disney. You are also guaranteed admittance to the parks should it be a crowded time you visit.

P.S. have you considered moving it to this Oct the fairytale package just can be beat.

[alextina]

Disney Princess,

You might also consider the hotels on Hotel Boulevard. They are still on-site right across from DTD and over a 10 day stay you could probably save upwards of $500. This might help you won't be at a disney resort but at least you'll still be on-site and the hotels are very nice and they still have a disney feel about them, you just won't get MM shampoo and lotion but I am sure you can live without that. Check it out and good luck. I know once you get them there they'll have a blast. I convinced my grandparents to go with us last year and at first they weren't so sure they wanted to do it, but once we got there I think they had just as much fun as we did.

[mattomouseman]

You could always try getting a job at your local Disney store and enjoy the half off discount for cast members on the resorts!!!!! But if that's not an option you guys are planning far enough in advance to sock some cash away for the anticipated trip! We always plan our trip between 7 to 12 months in advance. This helps because you have an idea on what the cost will be and you start to sock some cash away accordingly. I quite smoking 6 years ago and I took to putting $5.00 a night into a jar, this would have been the amount I spent on the cigarettes that day if I was still smoking. Think about it. That breaks down to $35.00 a week and $1,820 a year! On top of that I put $100 a paycheck into a credit union that I don't touch all year for vacations, that's another $2,000.00 dollars. That more then covers the cost of the resorts on our trips. This year we are splurging and going concerige level at the Poly. The fairytale package helped make that more affordable! Also when I know we're getting close to going I forgo a few extras for myself and sock a few extra $$ away so we have more spending money onthe trip! It's all in the planning and the preparation!:)
Good luck with your planning! Keep pushing! Have you ordered the trip plannning video? It might help swaying those on the fence!:)
WHEW I was long winded on this one!

[Disney Princess]

Thanks so much! I knew you guys would be helpful.

As for the fairy-tale package, it's a great deal but we wouldn't use the Ultimate Park Hoppers anyways. Keep in mind that we're all WDW rookies. We live in L.A. and go to DL at least twice a year, but from what I've read nothing will prepare my family for what's in store. They'll be overwhelmed from the parks and resorts alone.

As for staying off-site I'd only consider it in an emergency. I don't know if anyone other than myself will go again. Besides I think, I hope, there will be discounts next year. Thanks for the suggestion. But I might consider value resorts if everyone continues to give the half-hearted responses.

I'm setting up a meeting next week to see how many people are sure they want to go. Then I'm going to begin planning for them. I don't want to abandon the ten day just yet but I'm keeping my options open.

Any more suggestions are welcome! But can someone tell me more about CM discounts. How long do I have to work for them? See I'm a college student, and working in a Disney store, or at Disney's El Capitan theater is actually a possibility