Live :: Learn :: Lead

Just got back from a week long trip to Florida. The first part of the week we were in Ft. Lauderdale, the second part of the week we took the girls to Disney. The reality of Disney is while there are some ways you can save some money, it is an industry and it is going to cost money. While it was still expensive, we did find some ways to save. Here is what we found from our experience:

HOTEL: Jayme found our hotel on mousesavers.com for $79/night. We figured where we were just sleeping there, we wanted cheap, but clean. We ended up at Hawthorn Suites in Buena Vista, which was clean and beautiful, and comes with a full breakfast. The rooms were mini-suites with a pullout couch in living room, and a kitchenette with fridge, dishwasher and mini-stove. There were a few $65/night hotel deals, but they got bad reviews.

FOOD: We bought food/drinks at the local Wal-Mart and brought them in to the park. We didn’t spend a dime in the park. We had breakfast in AM, snacks all day, and dinner at a restaurant at night.

TICKETS: Depending on what kind of risk you want to assume, you can get a deal on tickets. There are guys who buy 10-day passes at the largest discount from Disney, and sell them to for a typical 3-day rate, with a little savings. The discount comes when you return the passes to the vendor. We got a $70 refund on top of the typical savings when the cards were returned. They will then wholesale them to a side of the road vendor for the rest of the days for someone who is willing to buy from him. The vendor we used was stationed in our hotel as a service, so we felt comfortable with the risk. I do have the contact of the person we used, email me and I will send you his information.

TRANSPORTATION: We had originally planned on using the shuttle service to get to and from Disney. But after a little investigating, we decided to keep our rental car. We used Priceline to renew our rental contract for $46/day. Our credit card has CDW protection, so we found some savings there also.

STROLLERS: Bring your own stroller. They can be checked at the gate before your flight, and can be brought into the park. If you rent a stroller at Disney, it runs about $15/day.

If you have any questions, feel free to message me and I will be glad to help!