Pretty proud of this trip budget

[Shannon G]

After taking advantage of the BJ's sale to order enough gift cards to pay off the balance on our July trip, I sat down to total up the cost, and have to say this may be my best deal yet. I also took advantage of a few cash back deals on RMN to buy gift cards.

-Cast of characters: me & 2 teen DDs
-Flying from the Northeast on SW points
-Staying offsite at Staybridge Suites 1 night, using Marriott points earned through work
travel
-1 night car rental, using a free day earned from National
-Staying 13 nights at Coronado Springs Resort, standard view, free QS dining, upgrade to regular dining plan
-10 day Park Hopper Plus tickets
-attending the after hours Villians event at MK
-Niece & her fiance joining us for a day at Blizzard Beach, using 2 one day comp tickets that I have

After taking into account the savings on gift cards that I bought, total out of pocket cost is about $6k. Full rack rate just for the package with tickets and dining would be almost $8500.

 

[momof2gr8kids]

Congrats. We always use points to offset whatever we can - it's the only way we could afford to go really. We went to Hawaii this past winter - free flights, free car rental, some free activities using points I converted to cash. My dd said her friends said you must be rich. She said nope, you just don't know my mom! LOL

You'll enjoy your trip even more knowing how much you didn't have to pay for it all! Have fun!

 

[Meglen]

Good job !! Always great getting a deal on vacation. I'm jealous your going for so long. Have a great vacation!

 

[Shannon G]

Congrats. We always use points to offset whatever we can - it's the only way we could afford to go really. We went to Hawaii this past winter - free flights, free car rental, some free activities using points I converted to cash. My dd said her friends said you must be rich. She said nope, you just don't know my mom! LOL

Same here, lol. My kids' friends think we're rich because we take a couple of vacations a year. But I use my SW card to rack up all the flight points I can, and ALWAYS look for deals.

Good job !! Always great getting a deal on vacation. I'm jealous your going for so long. Have a great vacation!

Thanks! This will be the longest WDW trip we've ever taken, previously the max was 10 days. Between having been so many times before, and having a long visit it allows us to include a good amount of down time and have a more relaxing trip. I can't wait!

 

[gr8leg8]

Sounds like a great trip!
Where are you eating?

I have a similar trip planned
and of course I’m second guessing my choices...

 

[Monykalyn]

Fantastic savings!!
Rough calculation is ~$150/per person per day is - fantastic! The lowest I've ever been able to get is ~$142/pp/per day.
The savings from the gift cards add up-basically got 10% discount on upcoming cruise using gift cards. Also stalk flight prices and have travel cc that rack up bonus/cash back points or miles on airline.

It does take work to save significant money, something I don't think people realize, they all want the quick fix or magic secret. Our friends always joke how often we travel and ask how we do it-research, savings, and travel rewards!

Have an awesome time-CSR is favorite resort!

 

[Shannon G]

Sounds like a great trip!
Where are you eating?

I have a similar trip planned
and of course I’m second guessing my choices...

We haven't decided on all of our meals yet, and probably won't make ADRs for everything. So far we are planning on BoG, Chefs de France and Enzo's Hideaway for dinner, and Kona cafe and Trails End for breakfast. We will do either lunch or dinner at Yak & Yeti, but I'm not going to make an ADR for that - I got the Landry's card so we can get priority seating without locking us into an ADR time. I'll likely make more ADRS once we make our FPs and I know our schedule better, but I'll likely also leave some open and just book whatever we can get while we are there, just to allow for more flexibility. We're trying to focus mostly on trying restaurants that we haven't been to before, rather than just revisiting our old favorites.

 

[Disneyfan754321]

I'm really impressed you did a really good job, you have a reason to be proud.