Best strategies for an inexpensive Disney family trip??

[ClapYourHands]

I had a close friend fall asleep while driving. She woke up, over corrected and flipped the car. She died instantly and my 2 friends with her were seriously injured.

Please do not ever drive when you are that tired.

I'm sorry to hear about your friend. I'm a nurse, and every so often someone falls asleep on the ride home. Sometimes it's just a fender-bender, sometimes it's totaling the car, and sometimes a colleague dies. On my very first rotation as a student nurse, the staff was taking up donations for the family of an aide who had recently died while driving home from nightshift. That really set the tone for me, and how important it is to get proper rest. Extra shifts are great money-makers, but I am extremely careful about when I take them on because I'm not willing to endanger myself or others on the road.

 

[SaintsManiac]

I'm sorry to hear about your friend. I'm a nurse, and every so often someone falls asleep on the ride home. Sometimes it's just a fender-bender, sometimes it's totaling the car, and sometimes a colleague dies. On my very first rotation as a student nurse, the staff was taking up donations for the family of an aide who had recently died while driving home from nightshift. That really set the tone for me, and how important it is to get proper rest. Extra shifts are great money-makers, but I am extremely careful about when I take them on because I'm not willing to endanger myself or others on the road.

Thank you for that. It was 23 years ago and still seems like yesterday. It was a waste. She was a very kind soul.

 

[kymom99]

My son and his friends have more sense than I might have expected a bunch of 20 year olds to have. They took a 13+ hour road trip overnight last summer. There were 4 of them. They took turns driving and made sure one other passenger stayed awake with the driver. They also planned out who was driving when so they could be prepared. On the way home they ran into an accident involving a semi that had the road closed down. They couldn’t get anywhere and my son was driving. It wasn’t his car either. At that point they had been on the road for many hours and I was very worried. I begged him to switch places and let the car owner drive because I was afraid people would get aggravated and there might be an accident. He actually listened to me. At that point they were about 90 minutes from home and had been driving all night. I wasn’t feeling good about the mental state of any of them.

 

[adamak]

1. Considered the points game. But you have to be very disciplined with your credit.
2. Google flight if you know when you're going. Set a tracker so you are familiar with the price. I would not just look at the cheapest fare like Spirit. They're awful and they get cancelled all the time. It won't be fun with a 4 year old. Also priced them out so you can get at least 1 check bag for free e.g., 1 of you pay higher fare to get this perks (sign up for cc if needed).
3. If you get checked bags, you can pack liquid. Canned soup, alcohol, juice. If you don't have checked bags, still consider packing stuff like oatmeal, pasta, popcorn. Order the rest once you're there.
4. Book a room with microwave at least. Rent from DVC. You save tons by making food, packing lunch in resort.
5. Bring empty water bottles. Freeze them and bring to pack. They will also keep your food cold.
6. With 8 and 4, the resort pools will be as fun as the park. Pick one that they can be entertained for hours.
7. If you must do character or expensive meals, consider doing a 1 night dining plan. Otherwise don't bother with the plan.
8. Don't go during peak times. If you cannot because of school, try to go first week of Jan for example.
9. Buy everything ahead of times. Signing pen / book / pins / T-shirts ...etc.
10. Put $ aside in separate account per month.