Quick & Cheap(er) trip to WDW

[IndyTwinsMom]

I know there is no way to do it really cheap - but what ideas are there for a quick 2-3 day stay? We are going on a DCL cruise in Dec. & I would really like to stay a few days after with the kids to enjoy the parks during the holidays... We usually have a nice budget for our trips but after the cruise & before Christmas is a hard time to find the extra $$ for a trip (and I am not interested in charging a vacation). We want to stay on-site, but have never stayed in a value resort...which would you recommend? Any tips / discounts / ideas would be appreciated!
Thanks!
JoLynne

[Mike2006]

Pop Century is nice

[hafrase]

I love Pop Century... it's where I almost always stay

[IndyTwinsMom]

Pop Century is nice

That's what I hear wherever I go - seems to be a favorite w/ a lot of people! I'll have to figure out why....

Any ideas on ticket discounts?

Thanks again!

[Chrissy&Tayen]

the pop or all star movies.. and a way to save a lil money is to pack a cooler with lunch meat and snacks and drinks.. but really theres no cheap way to stay on site and eat on site and save money

[IndyTwinsMom]

It seems there is no real way to do a cheap trip to WDW...
With the kids it is just easier to stay on site - plus the savings on a room for just a couple of nights is not worth giving up the bus to the parks & Magical Express (cost wise) the cost of other transportation would eat into any savings).

[Chrissy&Tayen]

i completely understand.. i have a 2 yr old and there is no way i would wanna travel on and off site back and forth with her.. it would eat up most of the day in traveling to and from the park.. if it wasnt for her i probably wouldnt be staying on site this time..

we drive the the magical express dont affect me.. but if your flying i understand where its a plus!

[tizzo]

That's what I hear wherever I go - seems to be a favorite w/ a lot of people! I'll have to figure out why....

Any ideas on ticket discounts?

Thanks again!

I don't know if this is common knowledge or not, but if you're a frequent visitor, you may want to look into the 10-day park hopper passes with the no-expiration option. Disney gives what amounts to a "bulk rate" discount for buying more days. There's a chart on Disney's web site that shows the prices for 1 through 10 day tickets, and the price per day of each. A 10 day base ticket costs $225, or $22.50 per day. Contrast that with a one day ticket at $71, and you're basically getting 10 admissions for the price of three.

Now these prices are for one park per day tickets. You can add park hopper and no-expiration options for an additional fee. Park hopper adds $45 total, no matter how many days you're buying. No-expiration option prices vary with the number of days, and elevates the price of a 10-day ticket to just over $400, or well under the price of six 1-day tickets. A 10-day park hopper that won't expire will cost you $450, or $45 per day. Compare with a one-day park hopper without the no-expiration option at $116, or a 3-day at $250. In addition, if you take a year or two to use up your extra days, you'll be insulated from the next couple of price increases.

Of course this isn't going to help you mitigate the cost of this trip, but it will help you justify the cost by deferring the cost of future trips.

Check out Disney's web site for ticket information. This one will let you change the options and show you how the prices are affected. Go to:

Walt Disney World Resort - Detecting Browser Properties . . .

and click on "Magic Your Way Tickets". You'll be asked your country and state of residence, and then will go to the page that shows you all the prices and combinations.

Also, according to the speil that they play on the monorail, you can supposedly upgrade the unused portion of any Magic Your Way tickets at any time before they expire. By default MYW tickets expire 14 days after you use the first day. What this MAY mean (but you should seek confirmation from somewhere else because this is just my interpretation) is that you could by a 10-day park hopper without the no-expiration option for $270. No-expiration would cost you $180 on this ticket for a total of $450. You then use three days of these tickets. After your third day, you should be able to upgrade the remaining 7 days to the no-expiration option. If my interpretation is correct, you should only have to pay for 7 days worth of no-expiration, which is only $95. So all told you could get 10 days, using three now and saving the rest for later, for a total price of $365 per adult.

The only thing I'm not sure of is how the price is determined if you upgrade a partially used 10-day pass. Do you pay what the upgrade would have cost for the full 10 days, or do you just pay to upgrade the days you haven't used yet? IE in the example above, if you try to upgrade the remaining 7 days of your 10 day ticket to no-expiration, will they charge you just $95, or the full $180 that you would have paid for the no-expiration option on all 10 days? Logic dictates that you'd only pay the $95, but I'm just not sure.

[Thumper10]

because it is just you n your kids going i think a value is a great way to go...they are very kid friendly and a lot of fun for adults too...i, like everyone else, would recomment pop...my family has stayed there and at all star sports...and this december we will be spending time at riverside and all star movies...maybe you could show your kids the 4 different value resorts and let them choose---the values def save $$ and dont take away any of the fun...good luck and enjoy your trip!!

[IndyTwinsMom]

According to Tizzo (partial quote):

"Also, according to the speil that they play on the monorail, you can supposedly upgrade the unused portion of any Magic Your Way tickets at any time before they expire. By default MYW tickets expire 14 days after you use the first day. What this MAY mean (but you should seek confirmation from somewhere else because this is just my interpretation) is that you could by a 10-day park hopper without the no-expiration option for $270. No-expiration would cost you $180 on this ticket for a total of $450. You then use three days of these tickets. After your third day, you should be able to upgrade the remaining 7 days to the no-expiration option. If my interpretation is correct, you should only have to pay for 7 days worth of no-expiration, which is only $95. So all told you could get 10 days, using three now and saving the rest for later, for a total price of $365 per adult.

The only thing I'm not sure of is how the price is determined if you upgrade a partially used 10-day pass. Do you pay what the upgrade would have cost for the full 10 days, or do you just pay to upgrade the days you haven't used yet? IE in the example above, if you try to upgrade the remaining 7 days of your 10 day ticket to no-expiration, will they charge you just $95, or the full $180 that you would have paid for the no-expiration option on all 10 days? Logic dictates that you'd only pay the $95, but I'm just not sure."

Anyone know if this is true? That would make it a GREAT deal! I priced tickets on Disney's site & a 2-day base ticket is $373.00 (for the three of us), and a 10-day non-expiration ticket is $1139.00. An 8-day ticket is $599.00...add that to the 2-day ticket & you only have $964.00 (vs.the $1139.00 for the same amount of days w/ the non-expiring ticket)! Of course the price of that 8 day ticket will no doubt go UP before I return but not enough to make the expense worth it right now. Am I doing something wrong with the math here?

With the cost of the MVMCP & the Candlelight Processional Dinner Package I am already spending around $800 for a 2-day stay (at a value resort even) without food & souvenirs so I could use any break I can get!

Thanks

[disneycrazy1956]

I have a feeling Disney will charge you the total cost of the upgrade or everyone would be doing it. I don't know for sure but check it out before you buy. I do know that when upgrading any MYW ticket to an annual pass you only pay the difference between the original price and the annual pass cost.

[debraw76]

The upgrade cost is based on the original length of the ticket. Mousesavers.com has a full explanation here:

(sorry I couln't post the link) But if you go to mousesavers website. On the left click on the walt disney world link, then click on tickets & passes (on the left again), then click on Regular Walt Disney World Ticket Prices.
Then Scroll down to the section that starts "The no expiration option..."

[Cinderella2]

I would call an expert who doesn't exactly work for Disney. We use Lori at Small World vacations. She is so helpful and really knows her stuff since basically all she does is Disney vacations. So far she has always found us a deal and she doesn't charge anything for her services. You can find her at WDWVacations.com or email her at Banderawdwtravel@aol.com.
Good luck! I have always been torn on whether or not I should buy an annual pass or just enough to cover the trip I am taking, just in case. It is definitely a hard decision.

[vixen101485]

Deb is right, the upgrade is based on the original ticket length. IF you get a 10 day ticket and use 3 days (to use your example) They will still charge you an upgrade on the 10 days and not the 7 left. Same thing goes if you want to upgrade a 10 day to an Annual Pass. The Annual Pass will revert to the 1st day you used the ticket EXAMPLE>>>>>>we had 10 day tickets ....started using them on Tuesday 9-11 ....upgraded to the AP on Thursday 9-13 and our AP will expire on 9-11 of Sept 08. Hope that helps. It took me forever and a day to find out all this stuff. If you get a chance to (when they fix their server..lol) go to stupidguesttricks.com and look for a user called Cheshire Figment. He is a great guy, has worked for WDW like forever and is usually willing to answer questions about ticketing (he works the actual booth)