What is the best and least costly way to enjoy a week at Walt Disney World?

I'm taking my best friend and his wife and kids with me to Florida for a week and want to spend a week at Walt Disney World. Is there some secrets of how to save money. The kids will have a blast, I treat them as if they were my own. There will be 3 adults and 2 kids.What is the best and least costly way to enjoy a week at Walt Disney World?
If everyone normally gets along perhaps look into renting one of the "home away from home" vacation villas aka Timeshares that Disney has. It's cost effective and they are bigger than normal regular hotel rooms and offer full kitchens as well.

Staying on Disney property will eliminate your need to rent a car if you plan on doing just a Disney experience.
stay at the value resort---do the dinning plan--definately--we didn't and spent too much $$$---don't buy hoppper tix--they are xtra--have fun~~~What is the best and least costly way to enjoy a week at Walt Disney World?
A good website to start with is Mousesavers.com



I always recommend to frineds and family to stay off-property. Orlando has so many hotel rooms, there are always deals. Use the actual hotel chains websites, hotwire, priceline, kayak.com, etc. I have even rented houses off eBay.



Same goes with Rental cars, there are always deals. The actual Rental Car companies websites tend to have the best deals, and look around (mousesavers, yahoo, etc) for coupon codes.



When are you planning to go? The time of the year can affect the prices too. The best weeks are the week before Christmas and the week after Labor Day, because most people will not take their kids out of school those weeks.



As for food, check eBay for an Orlando Entertainemnt book, look into the various Disney Dining Plans, or pack a Lunch each day.



Good Luck and Have Fun
Just a few tips:



1. If you're related to the military in any capacity (active, retired, civilian civil servant, and the like) you can pick up discount tickets at a military MWR ticket office. That alone will conserve your cash; check the RULES to see if you can get tickets for everyone who'll be accompanying you.



2. Stay at a hotel/motel off-park property. My wife and I stayed at a Marriot/Fairfield Inn (1.800.228.2800) in Anaheim, CA, when we visited DisneyLand and it was only about $57 per night (well, I do know it was moderately priced) plus it was located literally across the street from DisneyLand (about 2 Km from the main parking garage area). Again, I was able to get a military discount since I was active duty then.



3. Eat before you go so you can avoid paying for all of your meals at the park; the money conserved at b'fast can be used towards lunch and dinner at the park. Or, if you can, get "stamped" so you can exit and return to the park on the same day, allowing you folks to eat at a location away from the park.



4. Try to time your souvineer purchases towards closing time. Reason: you'll spend so much time waiting for a clerk that you'll have time to decide if you truly want some souvineer (costly) or would rather to conserve your cash. If you feel you must buy souvineers, buy them after you eat, your brain will be busy processing your meal that you may have a curious interest to "eye shop" but not a desire to buy.



5. Search AAA, travel websites, your credit card company's offers (American Express always has special costs for events), your employer (company) affiliations for discounts (my firm is in alliance with several firms so we can get discounted Orioles tickets), and check with your personal network to see if anybody has a relative who works there; maybe they can provide some "insider" info to conserve your money. Is your frequent flyer airline affilliated with Disney? Perhaps there may be discounts in that relationship.



Lastly, checkout the websites for "timeshare" rentals and/or the like; it's possible you can "rent" a house/apartment during your stay and it may be less expensive than a hotel/motel.



Good Luck!What is the best and least costly way to enjoy a week at Walt Disney World?
I really recommend staying on the disney property to save money on parking and driving back and fourth to the parks. Get the dining plan too. You get two meals per day and one snack with it. It saves you about 40% compared to not getting one and you can eat pretty much anywhere on the disney compound with it. The tip is included as well so you dont have to worry about that.



I also recommend staying at one of the Disney Value resorts for example the all star movie inn, the pop century inn and the sports inn. They are very nice rooms and start at 80.



Another tip. I would book it by calling the disney agents rather than online. I did that and it was a 100 dollar price difference because sometimes they can offer you better deals.



The reservation number is

407-939-7675



Have a great time and good luck!
Three adults and two kids means two rooms or a suite. I recommend staying on property and purchasing the dinning plan. Prearrange meals as early as possible. Depending on the age of the children you may want to do a few character meals.
You could try staying at a vacation condo rental. They are actually nicer then hotels and a much much better buy

http://www.disneyneighbor.com

http://www.orlando4starvillas.com

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http://www.windsorhillsorlando.com

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i dont know a cheap way to have fun in disneyworld.But you can go to a hotel outside of disneyworld. That will be cheap but it wont be as fun.i go to disneyworld every year only about 5 days per year.its always very exspensive. And also you might wanna bring some food in an ice chest from your house and put food in it and you can put some sandiches and bring them in a small bag to the park and eat them there so you dont have to spend money at the restaurants.well i hope you have a good time there say hi to mickey mouse for me.
value resorts on property at disney...enjoy
Well staying on property elminates the need for the rental car, and there is just no price you can put on saftey and piece of mind.



As far as cutting costs you can buy discount tickets from an authorized place like http://www.orlandofuntickets.com



And you can do other stuff like pack snaks in a backpack with water bottles to prevent you from having to stop every time someone gets a little hungry. But just have a blast with the kids and let them make the itinerary... That is the best key to success when doing WDW with children.
If you can stand the noise of all the other people's kids stay at the Sports Resort at Disney. The rooms are somewhat cheap and they have cafeteria style dining with free Coke refills if you buy a Disney character mug. There are shuttle buses that come and go in a timely fashion so you won't have to worry about waiting. There is a pool on site and an outdoor football field between 2 of the many housing complexes. There is a bar for the adults so that you can unwind from the day's insanity. The pool is open late so you can enjoy a late night swim. Buy a Park Hopper ticket when you check in. This ticket (card) will allow you to visit all the parks at Disney. There are restaurants everywhere with fares running from affordable to downright ridiculous. Make sure you ride the Tower of Terror and the Everest Expedition rides. They are awesome
1) Pop Century is a BLAST and the rooms are only $85/night($94 for preferred room). You get free shuttle to/from the parks and you also get the extra magic hours. Plus their food is WAY better than the other Value resorts.

2) Get the Magic Your Way Package with the Dining Option...you will spend a little up front, but believe me, the money you will save on food is WELL worth it!

3) I always buy Disney stuff off of Ebay or at the Disney Store when they have a sale. I don't tell the kids but when we get there I always pull our something new for them...I got the spinning light things for $.50 on sale and they were $7 at WDW! Also, the autograph books are cheaper on Ebay and at the Disney store than they are at WDW(bring a Sharpie for the autographs!)

4) Have a great time...you can't put a price tag on vacation memories!

Here's a great website to help you plan...

www.allears.net
It has been a while since I've been to Disney World, but the best way to save money would be to stay at a motel outside of Disney World as opposed to staying at their on site hotel. That's what my parents did when they took us. The kids will still love all the rides and the stores and the exhibits.