I've been at different times of the year and right after (the weekend) Thanksgiving has worked really great! The Christmas decorations are going up, the crowd doesn't seem bad at all, and you get the chance to see both the Christmas programs (if you go to
MVMCP) as well as the regular parades and such.
As for being thrifty, it really does depend on how much$$ you have to spend. I started a couple of years in advance and saved my extra $$. We (me and my two DD's) went for 10 days, stayed at the ASMu, sent some basic snacks, water and breakfast stuff ahead to the motel, then we used a small ice chest to keep our milk, lunchmeat, and such in that we purchased in the gift shop there. We also had bread and pop tarts that the girls would go down to the foodcourt and use their toasters. I KNOW that not only saved us some$$ but time in the food court. I would also suggest purchasing the refillable cups your fist day there!
Not including airfare, we spent about $600 per person, but we could have done it a bit cheaper as well. We had a four day hopper and went to Disney Quest. We ate at counters in the park and it seemed a bit less expensive than at the resort. We did have a few sit down meals, but I think next time I'll choose the Character Breakfast again instead of Character dinner.
You can stay at a higher priced resort, but if $$ is an issue, we found the All Stars to work fine. You're only in your room to sleep and clean up any way.
Have fun, the planning is almost as much fun as the trip.
(not really, but it gets you all psyched up
)
Gerri
