Orlando on a budget...

[Tinkerbell]

I thought I’d start a thread on doing Orlando on a budget, I’m pretty sure many many people will be struggling financially, not everyone will have been able to save money during lockdowns etc.

General hints and tips for those who want to go but are having to tighten the purse strings... anything about general planning. We have a very tight budget and today has made me realise how I’m going to have to adapt from my usual moderate onsite all in Disney bubble stay.

Hopefully there’ll be lots of advice for others to follow... links etc would be helpful

[Dr.JumbaJookiba]

Join every restaurant loyalty club you can, there's a free appetiser/dessert or money off for most of them out there.

[WIGGYSMUM]

I have a save the change account linked to my debit card account. It rounds up to the nearest pound each time I use it . So £1.45 rounds up to the £2 . The 55p over goes straight into a separate savings account. It’s amazing how quickly it adds up !

[disney332]

If it were me, I would look at a Hotel on Hotel Plaza Blvd. Reason being, that you can walk to DS and get into the action with free transportation. The Holiday inn is no more than 10/15 mins walk. Yes you may have to swap busses for places such as HS but its doable. You could also boat to POFQ or OKW or POR or walk a bit moe to SS. Look at the cost of the Holiday Inn, its very reasonable.

I would also eat where there is a topping bar and share meals, as far as poss. Not sure what the eating arrangements will be before covid is killed, but with big portion sizes, me and Mrs D332 can easily share a burger and chips.

Just my initial thoughts, and i am sure others will come up with cunning plans.

Disney332

[stink08]

have saved 1500 on a ta quote by booking myself, think i did pretty well, used Tesco clubcard points which i have saved all year on hotels.com and saved nearly £300 on booking, we normally do villas, but to expensive! breakfast included thinking that will def save some, will spend rest of year looking out for vouchers and signing up for usual discounts, will drag laundry card out to take, got the kids eat free and dine 4 less card, also planning as we are up on idrive to get free shuttle from hotel to universal parks and get an uber back as its only just over 2 miles, think it will be cheaper than parking

[WIGGYSMUM]

Make a list of everything you are going to packing / bringing with you ( I.e toiletries/ sunscreen etc) buy one a week and pop in a case. You won’t feel like it’s a big amount spent this way .

[Gryff]

For those of us of a certain age check which off site restaurants have reduced rates
We often share a starter or dessert or eat off the small bites menu
Take water and snacks to the parks 24 bottles in a case and 3 cases for $10 in Aldi Winne Dixie etc even CVS has deals on snacks and water
Don’t discount Dollar Tree if staying in a villa for any household bits you need or forgot to take you can pick up brand name products in there too I always buy things like salt pepper garlic cooking oil sugar etc in Dollar tree
Check out coupon sites like mommy saves big for store and restaurant coupons
If we are having a pool day we sometimes buy a sub from Publix and have it with crisps
Fruit etc one sub easily feeds us both
I tend to use the local farmers / Mexican market for fruit and veg much cheaper than the supermarkets
Hotel rooms most have fridges so make use of them to have breakfast in the room before you leave
Set a budget for in park spends every day and stick to it

[bosshogg]

Main tip is to move nearer Gatwick or Heathrow. Will pretty much half your holiday costs. 😁

[cornishfrogboy]

1.We stayed a night at the Ramada on IDrive and close to Universal last August.. £60 for the night including breakfast. It was clean, basic and absolutely fine. For us, it was a preposition prior to going to the Royal Pacific next morning, but it would have been perfectly acceptable for a longer stay. I believe that it also had complimentary shuttles, although I would still opt for a car.

2. Flights. Write off the parochial ‘we live near Manchester so we fly from Manchester’ attitude and be prepared to fly from wherever is cheapest.. generally Heathrow. Even with a drive (5hrs 30 in our case and a night in the Prem Inn), It saves a fortune direct and with indirects, can save you even more.

3. Consider hand baggage only. We did 3 weeks, Boston, NY, Dayton, Cincinatti, Orlando, Naples in 2019 in a family of four.. no problems at all.

4. Food and time management. Take in a packed lunch to the parks and leave early in order to have your evening meal in a happy hour period at an IDrive or LBV restaurant. You often get free starters and/or $5 cocktails. Do your research, join their Mail list if necessary and take advantage. Bahama Breeze is a good one.

5 If going to Disney, use the complimentary shuttle.
If visiting Seaworld, Aquatica then use the I Trolley to save on parking (or better still by a Discovery Ultimate non swim at around £160. It gives you a day with free food and drink at D.C., 14 days at SW, AQ and BG ... and with free parking).
If using Universal, arrive after 1800 and take advantage of free parking.

6. Consider ditching Disney altogether. We have on our last 5 visits to Orlando with no regrets at all. You can get a D.C. Ultimate and a Universal 14 for the price of a Disney 14.

7. Don’t tie yourself to 10, 14 or 21.. you often get better flight deals on 16,17,18 nights etc.

[sam7]

One of the biggest cost is theme parks, so decide which you absolutely have to visit. Could you do your trip and visit disney only plus non theme park attractions, or go to universal, sea world etc and give disney a miss - this would save thousands.
We found going to the breakfast buffets and filling up there we could go through to evening meal time with just a smaller snack rather than a full theme park meal.
Be flexible with when you fly, we flew on the Wednesday and the flight was over £600 cheaper than for a Friday or Saturday.
Take the smallest car you can fit in.
For budgeting I found booking one thing a month spread the cost better, so airport parking one month, car the next.
Keep an eye on the dibb as I got lots of great tips about cheaper flights etc here
The 192 has lots of budget restaurants and if you really want to save visit CiCi Pizza at least once