Posted: 11/22/2013 1:03:58 PM EDT
| Me and the family are looking at coming down in January and visiting Disney. Are there any hook ups available that wont cost us an arm and a leg? |
| Unfortunately, you must pay the arm and the leg to experience the "magic". I think the best you can get is a florida resident discount (if they still have it). If im not mistaken, you can get a discount on entrance if you stay at one of the disney hotels but you would have to call and find out if its even worth it. |
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Food will be your biggest expense by far.
Disney is sort of an island unto it self. You are insulated there unless you have your own car. Even then it is inconvenient to drive off campus so to speak for meals. Some resorts do have low cost options like when we stayed at the Wilderness Lodge, they have a small snack shop area where you can eat pretty cheap. Other than that be ready for the avg family of 4 to drop $100 on breakfast and go up from there. My kids are 17 and 14 and we quit Disney about 10 years ago and have been Universal Studios ever since. the nice thing about Univ is you can eat cheap at CityWalk as they have a million fast food places there as well as some great Sushi places you can get out off for $12 a person. With that said, the wife and I will still drive over to hit Victoria and Alberts Steakhouse at The Grand Floridian  as well Artists Point at the Wilderness Lodge. We always stay 7 nights at the Hard Rock or Portofino so we have time to hit lots of different places.
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| Disney has budget hotels that will cost the same as off property hotels unless you want your kids staying in a hooker hotel. Then you get disney service and disney free transportation. As far as food there are options for meals aslow as 6.00 a person at the parks. Honestly what more could you save? A buck or 2 perperson? What it worth to not have to carry around a cooler and what not. Diseny vacations are pricey but your not gonna save that much to make it worth it, maybe 10% overall and i dont think 10% is worth the hassel and not giving the kids the memory of eating a cheese burger at disney with dad. |
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They have hotels in price ranges from budget to ridiculous. Keep in mind that on property, even the budget hotels are going to be comparable to a mid-priced off property hotel. You're not getting something like $40 a night at the Motel 6 if you're staying on property.
If you're going to be there for more than a couple days, the meal plans really are a good deal, I think. Again, they offer them in a variety of service levels and therefore price ranges. |
| Yep you got dining plans for table service or quick service. I work at the rainforest cafe at the animal kingdom. There are plenty of hotels that are right off property that are on the back road INTO the property so you would NEVER have to deal with I-4 or anything like that. I will be moving to ocala soon otherwise I would get you and the family in for free for a day. PM me for any questions park related |
| dont stay at disney.......pack a small cooler with peanut butter and jelly sammys and bottled waters........last time I was there i was in the park for 10 hrs......dinner was the only money I spent inside and I still needed lube.....4 chicken sandwiches each came with a small side and no drinks $45........fuck them never again |
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"splurge" on a budget Disney hotel and do a meal plan. Not having to drive in and park, etc is totally worth it. A
no the budget hotels are perfectly nice, too. I've stayed in everything from lower end to the Grand Floridian and been happy every time no matter the hotel. |
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As an Orlando resident who routinely stays on property, both with local folks and people from out of town, another thing to consider when choosing your on-property hotel is how you'll spend your time.
Spending all day every day at the parks and only hitting the hotel to shower and sleep? Choose one of the less expensive ones. Several day vacation with a day or two in there for just relaxing and chilling out? Choose one of the nicer ones, because there's more to do without leaving your hotel. All of them have pools, of course, but for a quick example, something like Pop Century just has hotel rooms, the pool, a small arcade, a Disney-stuff shop, and a counter-service restaurant. Something more upmarket like the Polynesian has pools, beach, boats for rent (from tiny things the size of a jetski all the way up to sportfishermen), an art gallery, several different places to eat, and lots of nice places to just chill. How you will spend your time determines a lot. |