HOW TO PLAN A FRUGAL SPRING BREAK DISNEY VACATION IN FLORIDA!

Soon enough it will be time for Spring Break.  The kids will be out of school and it is the perfect time to enjoy some family time together.  With the economy and concerns with job security, many of us are not planning an elaborate and expensive vacation, however there are many frugal ways for a family to vacation.  As a family of five, it has alway been difficult to find accomodations for all of us since most hotel rooms only allow an occupancy of four.  Orlando is one of our favorite places to vacation.  There are so many things to do and the shopping is fantastic. 

However, rooms can sometimes be pricey.  This year however, there are definitely deals to be had.  One great place to check is kayak.com.  Kayak helps you find the deals and then forwards you directly to the hotel or airline to book your travel.  If you have a larger family, finding a timeshare rental can really save you some big bucks. Usually they will have a full kitchen with pots and pan, dishes and more making it easy if you want to eat some meals in. Also many timeshare resorts have all kinds of activities scheduled every day so you can take a few days to just do some of the fun things that are scheduled and have a day that is easy on the pocketbook.   You might be able to find  great deal on a timeshare rental at SkyAuction.com.  Not only do they have a great deal on condos and hotels in Orlando, you can find deals at many different locations and even some cruise bargains.  So if you are planning to travel, this is a great resource.

Another great option for vacation deals in Florida is Florida Vacation Auction. Florida Vacation Auction offers deals on hotels, condos as well as dinner shows, events and activities including surf lessons & trolley tours. If you are looking for a shorter mini- vacation, they are an excellent source of deals. The best deals I have found are for the 2-3 day stays. I can't even begin to tell you about all of the deals I have found at Florida Vacation Auction. There are so many I have lost count. :-) I really enjoyed staying at the Embassy Suites hotel for $50 a night.  Considering the breakfast alone for a family of five would be a good $40, that is an amazing price. And, if you are not familiar with Embassy Suites, their breakfast is cooked to order and always yummy, plus if you are a larger family the accomodations are more spacious and include two queen beds and a sleeper sofa as well as a mini fridge. 

When we rent a condo for the week, it includes a full kitchen and we take full advantage of that.  That was not always the case.  One year while vacationing in Kissimmee, we were riding up the elevator and we saw this gentlemen bringing in all of his groceries, his crockpot, pots and pans and all kinds of cooking utensils.  It never even crossed our mind that we could bring a crock pot or lots of groceries. After that we started bringing our crock pot and planning more meals. 

Although I have no desire to bring tons of cooking supplies with us on vacation, a few choice appliances can really make the difference.  For us, those appliances include a waffle iron and a crock pot.  With these items, we can have a hearty breakfast of waffles before heading out to Disney World, Universal or Sea World.  In the evening, we can then come back to a crock pot meal which can quickly be served.  Much more quickly than taking cranky, tired kids to a restaurant late after a day at the parks.  Plus we order pizza to go a few times during our stay and eat at the condo. This saves us on the cost of drinks and Pizzeria Uno has a carryout special for pizzas that is much cheaper than eating in the restaurant. So no trip to Orlando is complete without a carryout order of pizza from Pizzaria Uno. With some advance planning, you can have these meals planned out and many of your groceries purchased before you leave for vacation.

Assuming a 1 week vacation, not only is it too stressful to spend every day at Disney or Universal, it is just too darn expensive and tiring.  After all, a vacation is supposed to be a time when you actually get to relax.  Somehow spending every single day at a park with the kids is less than relaxing.  Here are some suggestions on how to spend your days while in the Kissimmee/Orlando area. 

If you have not taken the time to sign up for the ASTC passport program, now would be a great time.  What is the ASTC passport science program you ask?  Basically you become an annual member of your local participating museum and they gave you a card that allows you to go to any of the ASTC museums in the United States for FREE.  Not only will this be great for you to use on a vacation to Florida, but to any other area you want.  For example, they include great museums like the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago.  While in Orlando, you will want to make sure you include a trip to the Orlando Science Museum.  If you have toddlers or elementery school age children, you will absolutely adore the orange grove area where the kids get to pick the oranges and put them in crates.  It is really a lot of fun.  There are lots of fun things to do for all ages.  We still go back to this museum when we visit and my boys are all teens now.

You want to find out what it is going to cost to be an annual member of your local museum.  If you can't find an affordable one, you can always sign up for the Charlotte County Historical Society in Port Charlotte FL. That is where I belong.  A individual membership is $25 per year and a family membership runs $40 a year.  Just to get in to the Orlando Science Museum for 1 day for our family is $82.  So our annual membership already saves us $42 just for going to one museum.  So a years worth of museum visits can be a great deal.

There are going to be days you will want to go to a park, and there really is no getting around the cost of admission.  If you are a Florida resident, there are discounts and there are also discounts available if you go through your local AAA office.  Another great way to get discounts is to join the Borders rewards perks program.  You get discounts on all kinds of things including cruises, hotel rooms and more.  But even better, you can get discounts on Disney World tickets.  Right now they have a buy 4 days get 3 days free promotion.  Check them out and see what the current special is.  And, if you have not heard about the give a day get a day promotion, you can get a free ticket to Disney for volunteering.  Unfortunately there are black out dates that incorporate most of spring break.

Once you get in to the park, food can be a bit pricey.  Because you are going to have warm weather, it is very important to make sure everyone stays hydrated.  One great way to do that is to buy juice boxes or Capri Suns and freeze them in the freezer.  Make sure you also bring snacks for the kids.  I buy the Walmart brand rice crispie treats because they won't melt but breakfast bars, fruit snacks and nuts also are great snacks. You can also freeze water bottles and buy the individual Crystal light packets and just shake them up when you need a drink.  Then bring a backpack and attach it to the back of a stroller if you are using one or get a locker and go back for snacks and drinks at certain times during the day.  You can really save quite a bit.  There is also fresh fruit that can be purchased at Animal Kingdom and in the Magic Kingdom near Mickeys house.  Tomorrow I will give you more tips on hotels.  But for now, here are some suggestions I hope you find helpful.  Frugal is not just clipping coupons before you go to the grocery store.  Frugal is a way of life that helps you to live within your means.