tips on doing disney cheap!!!!!!

my aunt and uncle have taken Amtrak from Chicago to SF. they loved it. met some real nice people on the 3 trips they have taken. they had a sleeper room adn liked the experience.


My only experience was when Jr was really into trains 3-4 years ago, wen went fromCary to Wilson, 3 hrs lay over then came back. now Wilson downtown was pretty hard to kill 3 hrs (Imagination Sat, art museum and the library), but the train ride was fun. seemed clean and my wife is a germ freak. the sanck bar was good, seats were comfortable.

it took longer than driving, and cost more, but we were doing it for the adventure.

When we go to DC in the spring for a Nationals game we are probably doing amtrak to avoid the traffic. DC on the train is about 6 hrs, and it will cost more than the tank of gas we woudl use up there and back. but you avoid the traffic.

 

I took an Amtrak once out of sheer necessity. Had to meet DH In Boca Raton, Fl, he was taking some training there and we didn't want to end up with 2 cars there. This was when he first got out the AF and money was tight. So I took the train by myself, it was supposed to be a 12 hour trip or so. I just got a seat, not a sleeping car. There was flooding in GA, it took more than 24 hours. I was absolutley terrified the whole time. Most nerve wracking thing I have ever done, was scared to shut my eyes, LOL.

I'll never say never, but I damn sure won't be doing it alone!

 

I can see how in this particular situation, the train might be the better choice. 6 people and frequent bathroom trips might equal the same amount of time as driving. Of course, you still have to deal with the non-Disney "characters." :lol:

 

I've done similar adventure trips to Greensboro-Raleigh with my little one as well ....and for the most part those are fun. One time I rode from Burlington to Raleigh with my mom and had to ask some jackwagon to sit up so he could make room for a lady by herself. He was one of those "characters" that thought he could lie down across two seats while others could stand. :roll:

 

Believe me, I'd much rather fly. I check Southwest, Allegiant, CheapTickets.com quite frequently.

 

I will post more details later but just wanted to say thanks to everyone for their advice. We had a great time!
We ended up flying. I work for an airline so we fly free but on standby. I hesitated to fly because the flights were sooooo full but we made it.
We stayed on the Disney Property at Pop Century Resort which is one of the Value options (airline employee discount rate was INSANELY low)
I highly recommend POP Century. It is the only Value Resort that doesnt share a bus to the parks with the other resorts. It is less crowded than lets say the Sports Themed Resort because the sports teams that come in for tournaments tend to stay at the sports themed resort.
Dont let the Value label fool you. Its Disney and Disney makes everything special at any price range. They dont have sit down restaurants. They have a food court with awesome food choices and pretty good prices in the grand scheme of things. Not a food court like the mall with McDonalds. Good food.

Again I will post more later but just off the top of my head here is my advice:

Get to the parks as soon as they open.
Use the Fast Pass stations to cut down on how long you have to wait to for rides.
Hit the stuff you really want to do early in the day like the highlights in each section. You can always go back and do other stuff and ride stuff again you like.
Consider riding early and getting a Fast Pass for riding again later in the day when the lines are longer.

My best purchase before leaving NC: 3 rain ponchos and 3 umbrellas from the Dollar Store. It rained like cats and dogs the first day we were there. You have to make the best of it. These purchases were a life saver and money saver.

Bring a backpack but dont weigh yourself down too much. I brought granola bars and small bottles of water. there are water fountains all over the parks to fill up the bottles or better yet just use the water fountains. i hate to waste money on beverages.

more later and thanks again!-db's wife

 

I'm glad you had a good time! We love Pop; have stayed there twice and stayed at ASMu in a family suite last Oct.

Did you see many large Brazilian groups with their giant flags?

 

OMG! There were Brazilians every where! What was up with that?
That was one of the reasons the flights were so full. We fly from RDU to MIA then to MCO(Orlando) The MIA to MCO flights were FULL of Brazilian tour groups!

DB's wife

 

Happens this time every year; their summer break is in January. Were they loud and constantly chanting?

 

Interesting you guys mention the Brazilians. When I was down there in Sept, I noticed the overwhelming majority of the foreigners were speaking Portuguese. I had a conversation with one guy on the shuttle about the number of people from his country and he said Disney is marketing VERY strong down in South America due to the American economy being in the tank. He said he had been there 3 times already which a church group, school group and family vacation.

 

i did hear some chanting but they were not loud. they were very friendly.
boy do they travel with A LOT of luggage. Our company's weight limit for free International baggage generally is 50 lbs but the Brazilian government requires we allow travel to and from Brazil to be 70 lbs. Maybe its so they will bring a lot of stuff home with them, i dont know.
-db's wife

 

my son wore his "Its My Birthday" button and almost every Disney employee he came in contact with him said, "Happy Birthday, G******!) They sounded really genuine so it was really special. -db's wife

 

Re: #6 only the florida resident gets the discount. you must show id to buy.
and lots of the parks read your fingerprint when you insert your
ticket. it used to be the florida resident's guests got the discounted
price but not any more.
Florida residents dont get a discount on a one day pass. my brother
is a Florida resident and only had time to go to one park with us.
he didnt get a discount. get this, a one day ticket was $87 but he
could have gotten a 4 day ticket for $119 total as a Florida resident.
The per day ticket price goes down for everyone the more days you
buy. this is true for the hotel as well. -db's wife

 

That's awesome. My daughter will feel so special! I bet my youngest will be jealous and ask if we can go back for her birthday. :lol:

 

They have other buttons as well, or are you needing a reason for another trip to Disney? :lol:

 

:lol: I was just thinking my youngest might get jealous of the attention the birthday girl will get! Yeah, I would love to go to Disney twice in a year, but it won't happen this year unless we win the lottery. Besides her bday is in August, and I that would not be my favorite time of year to be there.

 

Is it their first trip? If so, they can get a button for that too

 

It's the oldest daughter's 2nd trip. My youngest was in the womb for her first trip! lol! I was 5 months pregnant the last time we went to Disney. I would never suggest going to Disney pregnant. I don't know what I was thinking with all that walking.

 

There ya go! She can get her own button too I went when I was pregnant twice, one time I didnt know, but yes, not fun!

 

here is my tip on saving $$ on souvenirs at epcot. they might have this at other parks too but i didnt notice.

every "country" has one of those 51 cent penny machines where you insert 51 cent and the machine presses the penny into a souvenir of that country.
my son loves those machines!!!!!! my son wanted a "little something" from each country. unfortunately we visited 3 countries before noticing these machines- db's wife