My apologies if this is redundant. Last time we flew down, I packed our swim suits and towels in our picnic cooler. I packed lots of ziplock containers/gladware, as well as zip lock bags, plastic utensils, etc. We arrived, the kids got into their swim suits, hubby filled the cooler with ice, and I drove over to the grocery store and picked up cereal, milk, fried chicken, sandwich fixings, fruit, chips, juices, crystal lite, etc. We ate breakfast in the room, packed lunches to eat around 11:00, and ate a late lunch/early dinner at the parks. We took along zip lock bags and everyone saved about half of their dinner for a late night snack. I figured it saved us $10-$25 per person per day, which for four of us was a chunk of change. I was able to make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the plane ride home, too.
Ha! Not funny! Okay, mildly. 
I haven’t got through the entire thread. Do we have a specific budget in mind? I know we said “kidney” but not other organs. If you’re willing to do without a spleen, have you considered the Fort Wilderness Cabins? Or the All Star Music Suites?
Len
For meals, the Disney Dining Plan is a real good value. Especially if you eat at the right places. You get a lot of food and can eat some realy good restaurants. It’s not the cheapest what you can eat, but if you want to try some of the better restaurants there, it’s a great way to go.
Hmmmmm - I know people can live quite nicely without a spleen so yeah, I guess that’s an option 
I’ve been poring over the Unofficial Guide book and the assorted websites and have learned lots and lots and want to thank everyone - again - for all the advice.
It looks like the Port Orleans resort might be a good choice for us since they can handle parties of 5 and the rates aren’t too insane (about 1K for 5 nights) but we’re holding off on making reservations for the moment - not sure whether we’ll have that spare kid or whether we’ll have to take better care of the 2 we’ve got At 1K for 5 nights, that just tips the balance in favor of the conveniences of onsite vs the cost savings of being offsite. I’m really stunned that Disney does such a poor job of catering to families with more than 2 kids though, very few of their resorts handle that at all affordably.
Do the travel agents typically have the ability to get small room discounts? I put in an inquiry at AAA and haven’t heard back from them yet.
Have done some reading on the dining plan and that does look like a good option. IIRC, it’s 40ish dollars per person per day and you can sink far more than that on a single meal!
If you do the dining plan, you should know that WDW restaurants book completely full - particularly the week you are talking about going. So you’ll want to call Disney Dining and make reservations - otherwise, you’ll have spent $40 a day and not get to use your dining credits. You can book dining six months out - so you can call pretty much now. Don’t wait until the last minute, either.
This means you’ll need to plan your days ahead - around your dining.
Yes, travel agents can get discounts. The book recommends a few Disney-specialist travel agents that we’ve worked with over the years, if that helps.
For five nights you might consider an annual pass (AP) as an option. Disney often gives annual passholders discounts on lodging. For the next edition of the book, we looked at the break-even point for every AP discount Disney’s offered since 2005. IIRC, the average break-even for staying at a deluxe resort was 3 or 4 nights, and 5 was the break-even for moderates. Depending on the exact discount, you might save a few bucks that way.
Our reader comments on the dining plan have been overwhelmingly positive. The most common negative comment is that it’s a lot of food.
Len
Squeeeeee!!! A famous author spoke directly to MEEEE
I’ll check out the travel agents once our plans firm up a bit, thanks for the advice.
I’m learning sooo much from this thread (and your book). Last time we did Disney it was not entirely the focus of our trip; this time it is, so we really need all the advice we can get, and all the advance planning we can muster.
Haven’t gotten all the way through your book yet so this may be covered but in case not, one addition we (unfortunately) might find helpful is location of medical facilities :eek: (our trip to Disney World pre-kids in 1987 required a visit to deal with an intestinal virus, our trip to Disney Land in 2002 required an ER visit for pneumonia… my nephew broke his arm during their last trip to Disney World… do you sense a pattern here? ;))
This is good advice even without the Plan. If you plan on eating at the Disney restaurants (try Boma!), you need to make the reservations as early as possible.
Do you know anyone who works in a chain Hotel?
This isn’t feasible for everybody, but me and a few family members once went to Disney on the cheap. I worked at a Hilton Hotel and was able to get heavily discounted rooms at the Disney Hilton. Then we went to one of those three hour Time Share presentations with a free sausage, eggs, pancakes, juice, coffee, and danish breakfast. We resisted the salespitch and we each received our free one day pass to the Disney park of our choice (We chose Epcot.) It was a helluva bargain. Probably saved about $1500 between Disney and the Hotel.
People who work at a Hotel chain are usually able to get deep discounts or comped rooms (depending on availaiblity) at any of their properties. Not many perks in the Hotel business, but this is one of them… stayed at a few really nice Hilton properties this way, and similarly was able to get rooms for friends and family.