a little help, please, for college students! About This Page:

[disneycj26]

hi everyone!

So here's the situation:
I've been thinking about a Spring Break trip to Disney World with my best friend who has never been there. It would be amazing to see her experience Disney World for the first time and I know she would love it. The problem is... we're college students! and as college is expensive... our budget is a little tight. We would definitely be paying for the trip ourselves.
Is there any advice on how to cut costs? Such as how to book hotel rooms and getting park tickets at discounted prices?
I think staying on Disney property would be best for us so that we don't have to worry about transportation and getting lost. Also the dates we would be going would be roughly around March 9- March 14.
I hope I can make this happen and any advice is greatly appreciated... especially since I'm new to all this!!

thanks!

[bcuinohio]

If your Spring Break does not fall during the week before or after Easter, you can get a room discount. Go to the WDW website and click on "Special Offers":

Walt Disney World&reg - Walt Disney World&reg - Special Offer

Sign up for the www.mousesaver.com newsletter. They usually have a link for discounted tickets. The discount is not very big but it is about as good as it gets.

Quite often, the food servings at WDW are on the large side, you may be able to split. Another money saving trick of mine is to get a large drink and ask for an extra cup. You can split the drink. You can also just ask for a cup of ice water for no charge at any counter service eating area.

If you are driving there, pick up some snacks and drinks before you get there and keep them in a cooler in your room. Get a case of muffins at a warehouse club for breakfast. You could save a lot of time and money by not having to buy breakfast.

[Ryland]

I heard on a Podcast think 1/14 Dis Unplugged that there are discounted tickets available to college students through their college. You might check with your Student Activities Office to see if your school offers.

Also one very unique idea a friend of mine used with to create an EBay item "Help us Pay for our Disney Trip" (hers was pay off college loans) then she emailed & FBed it as an invitation to Bid to all her family and FB friends and people could go to EBay and buy/donate at whatever level they felt comfortable - her Uncle she never sees was VERY generous and rewarded her ingenuity with 5k, so you never know... She also got bids of small incrememnt from people she had never met who just wanted to say awesome idea. Who knows maybe a few of us Passporters would kick-in a $5 or $10.

[Caldercup]

Originally Posted by Ryland

Also one very unique idea a friend of mine used with to create an EBay item "Help us Pay for our Disney Trip" (hers was pay off college loans) then she emailed & FBed it as an invitation to Bid to all her family and FB friends and people could go to EBay and buy/donate at whatever level they felt comfortable

That's an interesting way of doing things in the cyberworld. I think I might be too old-fashioned to ask others to pay for my vacation, but it could work. I know charities certainly have made such campaigns very successful on-line.

Just keep in mind that the PassPorter guidelines would not allow advertising such a campaign on here (as in, they couldn't come here to solicit donations because it would be considered advertising for financial gain.)

[disneycj26]

thank you i will check out the discounts that Disney is offering and have signed up for the mousesaver newsletter. Thanks for the food ideas! Those are great ideas to cut the costs down a little.
thanks so much

[disneycj26]

I will definitely look at my Students Activities Office to see if they have anything like that. it's a great idea
The ebay idea is very creative but I, personally, feel uncomfortable with asking people for money online and for a vacation. I understand college loans though and it's a good use of the internet.

thank you

[disneycj26]

Thanks for your advice. I'm still new to this and any advice to this site is very helpful. I guess I'm old fashioned as well because I feel uncomfortable asking people, especially online, to pay for my vacation. But it is a great idea for charities and such!

thanks!!

[HiddenMickey]

As a college student a couple friends and I stayed about an hour away with a set of grandparents. We drove to WDW for day visits. That was the very inexpensive way to go. Not ideal, but still quite fun. Don' t discount the idea of staying off property, as you can find really good deals and the road signage at WDW is really good and makes it easy to get around.

[Pris]

As mentioned, if you can bring food from home it can save a lot of money. Bring bottled water and snacks to carry into the parks with you. You'll still want to splurge on a Mickey bar or such, but it can definitely cut down on those costs. DH and I always buy one large drink at meals and share it. We just get one cup with 2 straws, but you can also get the extra cup as mentioned. Obviously you will want to stay at one of the value resorts for the least expensive room deal.

[Mares75]

I have to say first this is a great site. You'll find lots of very friendly people who are more than happy to answer any question you might have.

If you want to stay on site check out the Value resorts. We stayed at All Star Music (ASMu) and it worked great for us especially since we spend most of our time in the parks.

Would you be flying or driving down? If you're flying definitely use Disney's Magical Express. They'll pick up your luggage for you and deliver it to your resort. All you have to do is get on a bus, relax, and enjoy the ride. Plus it's free!

Stick to counter service for meals. We've done this before too and there's a big variety of food at the CS locations, not just burgers and fries. You can easily get a muffin or bagel for breakfast at your resort's food court cheap. I'd also get a refillable mug at your resort. You pay for the mug and then get free refills of pop or coffee (at your resort only).

A great site for general info is AllEars.Net - The Unofficial Disney Planning Guide for Walt Disney World, Disneyland and the Disney Cruise Line
They have information and photos of all the hotels. You can also look at some of the counter service menus so you can get an idea of food costs.

[Kobeychiev]

Hello there!

I just returned from a "cheap"ish Disney college budget trip. It can be very tight when you go on a college budget, but some of things I did....

join online surveys, such as Sunshine rewards, Pinecone Research, etc for cash. PM me for more details

Save all Christmas, birthday, etc money in a Disney fund

Make a list of things you need and buy them when they go on sale, ex. Moleskin, wait for a sale

Start looking into ways to save money by giving up something, instead of paying to go see a movie, watch one at home, again put money into a fund

I can't think of any more that haven't been said, but if you want to know what I did for my vacation you can read my TR, which will come out soon under the title Who's Dragging Whom?, or PM me. I would love to answer any questions you have.

[Caldercup]

All great ideas!

By the way, there is a budget board at PassPorter that has "stickies" of popular topics on how to save for Disney, and how to save on the vacation itself.

The Office: Budgeting and Reward Programs - PassPorter Community - Boards & Forums on Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel

Hope you find helpful info there too!

[disneycj26]

HiddenMickey:
I would do that if i had relatives in Florida! Since we would be flying to Disney (because it's less expensive than taking a train and there's no way my friend and I would drive all the way down there from VA!) I have counted out the staying off property idea because we would have to rent a car when we get there and it would be another expense. I'll do my homework though and look up offsite hotels thank you!

Pris:
Bringing our own food is a great idea and would definitely save us some money! And I need to look into the value resorts. Any idea which would be the least expensive, or are all value resorts priced around the same? thanks!

Mares75:
Thanks for the welcome! And I can already tell that this is an awesome site with amazing people.
yeah, we would definitely be spending most of our time at the parks Well, ideally, we would be flying down because that seems like the cheapest and fastest way to travel. And I've read about Disney's Magical Express on this site and on many others and it sounds great! So we would take advantage of that. We would be sticking to counter service meals, especially because it would be my friend's first time there and we want to do as much as possible! Thanks for recommending the website, I'll check it out


Kobeychiev:

Those are all really great ideas and I will definitely PM you with any of my questions! I'll also be checking out your trip report It will help me out a lot!
Thanks a bunch! especially since you're speaking from experience

Caldercup:
yay! thanks! This site has already been more than helpful, and it continues to be! Thanks for pointing the budget board, I'm sure it will come in handy.



Thank you everyone for being so helpful!

[HollyH]

to the boards! My first WDW trip was during college (exam week, though....not spring break). As you can see, I'm hooked!

If you are flying, DME is definately the least expensive way to go. We always use DME and we love the convenience of it. All of the value resorts are priced the same but my preference is Pop Century. That said, I wouldn't hestitate to stay at any of them. I would definately call to check on the room discount availability.

[disneycj26]

Thanks! wow, you went during exam week? how'd you pull that one off? haha were you done with exams? And thanks for the advice. I'll check out the room discounts

thank you