Best Tips on a budget?

[ddean1968]

Hi everyone, looking for any tips on making this years trip to Disney world the most memory filled for my family. Looking like this maybe the last trip I make to the parks and I want to make sure my family never forgets it.

Thank in advance

We will be staying off property, so keep that in mind. We will be going to the parks 5 days though, no water parks as my littlest one would not have much fun.

 

[jacdolfin]

We have staid off site every trip so far. This year we are staying on site. Here are a few tips that I hope help. To cut food costs take in snacks, sandwiches, and bottle water. We froze our water and it staid cold during the hot months. To help pay for the trip without breaking the bank we did so in stages. Step one book your condo etc. we love Windsor hills and Windsor palms. You can find good deals on vrbo.com. Step two we bought tickets one at a time. We buy them at the Disney store. They don't expire until you use them. Step three for us is to get Disney gift cards and start putting a little money on it each paycheck so you use the cards for spending money, souvenirs etcetera. For us doing the trip this way helps a lot. A lot of people like the photo pass so I would preorder that.

We would get to the parks at rope drop stay til 6 or so go back to the condo eat and rest then go back for the late hours. It helps to plan your days out way in advance so you have a plan when you get there. For MK start at the back of the park and work forward. Use fast passes. Above all make memories, have fun, take lots of pictures. Hope this helps.

 

[Disneytwinsmom]

can't wait to see more tips!

 

[ddean1968]

We have staid off site every trip so far. This year we are staying on site. Here are a few tips that I hope help. To cut food costs take in snacks, sandwiches, and bottle water. We froze our water and it staid cold during the hot months. To help pay for the trip without breaking the bank we did so in stages. Step one book your condo etc. we love Windsor hills and Windsor palms. You can find good deals on vrbo.com. Step two we bought tickets one at a time. We buy them at the Disney store. They don't expire until you use them. Step three for us is to get Disney gift cards and start putting a little money on it each paycheck so you use the cards for spending money, souvenirs etcetera. For us doing the trip this way helps a lot. A lot of people like the photo pass so I would preorder that.

We would get to the parks at rope drop stay til 6 or so go back to the condo eat and rest then go back for the late hours. It helps to plan your days out way in advance so you have a plan when you get there. For MK start at the back of the park and work forward. Use fast passes. Above all make memories, have fun, take lots of pictures. Hope this helps.

Thank you very much for the well thought out reply I plan on using some tips I have read elsewhere and hope it is fact rather then fiction The pin swapping in the parks. I read that I can just get some pins on Ebay to save a ton and do the pin swapping that way. Grats on Staying on site , I was hoping for a better promotion this year to let us do the same, but meh, this years promotion for the time we are traveling is not that impressive. Hmmm Buying tickets one at a time, might be a great way to break it up actually. I was planning on using the Under Cover tourist, but lump sum was really seeming to be overwhelming.

Our original plan was to try to go in the September - October range, but life happens and plans had to be move up to a sooner date. Once again thank you so much for your reply

 

[jksgrammy]

Thank you very much for the well thought out reply I plan on using some tips I have read elsewhere and hope it is fact rather then fiction The pin swapping in the parks. I read that I can just get some pins on Ebay to save a ton and do the pin swapping that way. Grats on Staying on site , I was hoping for a better promotion this year to let us do the same, but meh, this years promotion for the time we are traveling is not that impressive. Hmmm Buying tickets one at a time, might be a great way to break it up actually. I was planning on using the Under Cover tourist, but lump sum was really seeming to be overwhelming.

Our original plan was to try to go in the September - October range, but life happens and plans had to be move up to a sooner date. Once again thank you so much for your reply

UndercoverTourist does have the best prices, but wanted to alert you that they are noting that Disney ticket prices are due to increase in the near future. You do get the MouseSavers Newsletter? If not, sign up for it and you get a little more discount when purchasing Disney tickets thru a special link to UndercoverTourist.

Enjoy your trip!

 

[jacdolfin]

Thank you very much for the well thought out reply I plan on using some tips I have read elsewhere and hope it is fact rather then fiction The pin swapping in the parks. I read that I can just get some pins on Ebay to save a ton and do the pin swapping that way. Grats on Staying on site , I was hoping for a better promotion this year to let us do the same, but meh, this years promotion for the time we are traveling is not that impressive. Hmmm Buying tickets one at a time, might be a great way to break it up actually. I was planning on using the Under Cover tourist, but lump sum was really seeming to be overwhelming.

Our original plan was to try to go in the September - October range, but life happens and plans had to be move up to a sooner date. Once again thank you so much for your reply

Your welcome and thank you Have a great trip. Just FYI I have bought pins from eBay and it worked well.

 

[ddean1968]

UndercoverTourist does have the best prices, but wanted to alert you that they are noting that Disney ticket prices are due to increase in the near future. You do get the MouseSavers Newsletter? If not, sign up for it and you get a little more discount when purchasing Disney tickets thru a special link to UndercoverTourist.

Enjoy your trip!

Thank you! I just now signed up for the mousesavers newsletter. I have scoured for tips for the past month or so and that was the first I had heard of this one Thank you so much.

 

[AJ1983]

Here's wishing you and your family a wonderful vacation

 

[Itinkso]

Wishing you a vacation filled with Magical Memories!
We have purchased pins from eBay and traded in the Parks. Some CMs have lanyards specifically for trading with children.
Purchase memory cards for your camera(s) ahead of time and ask the Photopass photographer or Character Attendant to take photos for you.
In many instances, if you were to explain your goal of this memory-filled trip, CMs can assist you in making it happen...maybe a little more time with your favorite character at a Meet and Greet or perhaps a special Meet and Greet... I know the characters at some shows (JTA) will meet with guests when asked. It would be best to stop by City Hall in MK and ask for an "I'm Celebrating" button and explain your wish. Hugs to you and your family!

 

[sskem96]

The pin swapping in the parks. I read that I can just get some pins on Ebay to save a ton and do the pin swapping that way.

If you really want to do pin trading, then yes you can save a little money by buying some pins on ebay ahead of time. But if you're on a tight budget, you could just skip the pin trading. You will see other people doing it, but certainly not everyone. We are pretty careful about our spending and have never done pin trading just because I feel like there's too much cost involved.

 

[bearloch]

also to save some cash split meals! you can always get more if needed but most even the counter service are large in size.. counter service also have very nice condiment bars with grilled onion, lettuce, pickles, tomatoes etc so you can " spruce" up even the cheapest of meals! and DO NOT BUY WATER all counter service will gladly give you a large glass of ice water for free we take refillable plastic bottles that clip on and fill them up as needed!!

dont wait till the last minute to buy trinkets/ memonitos etc as when your tired you tend to spend more just to get out of the park! lol plan ahead a little and shop when your well rested and not hungry!

you can order lg pizzas cheaper than slices!

bring zip lock baggies to save extra food etc

ask Cast members for sticker eveywhere it can be a fun cheap challenge

scorcer of the magic kingdom is fun but can be time consuming just save the cards as a freebe!

if you drive your car onto property bring a cooler with ice and soda for the ride back or between parks!

 

[Postal68]

If you have time, you can try the character outlets for souvenirs. They have alot of out of date stuff, but my kids always find at least one thing there that they really want.

 

[Iloveeliot]

I LOVE pin trading! I would NOT recommend buying pins on ebay as many people sell "scrappers" or pins that are fake and not official Disney pins but very similar look alikes. This happened to me and I felt I couldn't trade them in the parks knowing they are fakes. It is just wrong. What I did do was call around to different Disney Outlet stores to see who had the cheapest pins. I bought anything they had that was cheap. It doesn't matter what they look like because you will be trading them. The store near me didn't have any so yes, I paid shipping but the pins still came out much cheaper than paying full Disney price. I only bought a few because I didn't know if I would like trading and I should have bought more because I ran out of traders and ended up paying full Disney price to get more traders. Have a fabulous trip! If you will want Photopass which is very expensive, you will save some money by pre-buying it. You can get a CD of all your photos which can be over 100 for the price of buying a few hard copy prints in the park. It was expensive but I treasure the CD and it will contain your Magic Shots.

 

[ddean1968]

People on this board are incredible. Thanks for all of the tips and best wishes for a fun filled trip. I most likely will heed the advice of skipping the pin trading. My 2 year old won't really recall it and my 17 year old will not care much for it :/

 

[cceandme]

My kids loved pin trading. We have never had problems getting pins on eBay. We always check thier reviews first. If they are selling fakes usually someone will notice and give that person a bad review.

Are you driving or flying?

 

[ddean1968]

My kids loved pin trading. We have never had problems getting pins on eBay. We always check thier reviews first. If they are selling fakes usually someone will notice and give that person a bad review.

Are you driving or flying?

We will be flying got incredible ticket prices

 

[Itinkso]

We will be flying got incredible ticket prices

Be sure to check the Transportation board for car rental discount codes and discount sites. I used carrentalmomma.com for our last rental and was able to combine an Alamo Insider perk for a free additional driver. Will you be driving to the Parks or does your off-site location have a shuttle?

 

[ddean1968]

Be sure to check the Transportation board for car rental discount codes and discount sites. I used carrentalmomma.com for our last rental and was able to combine an Alamo Insider perk for a free additional driver. Will you be driving to the Parks or does your off-site location have a shuttle?

Being offsite I plan to drive to the parks. I would not want to chance the trips fun and timing on the hotels schedule.

 

[hcipi]

I try to make something special for the kids from "Mickey" (in the past it has been buzz and woody, lilo and stitch etc.

Before I go- I get those shopping bags at the disney store (about 1 dollar each). I pick up a t-shirt for each kid w/ their newest fav. character or a souvenier/beach towel or stuffed animal and some disney snacks too etc.

I buy some pins and lanyard on ebay-with their fav. character theme.

I get the autograph books and pens cheap at one of the online disney outlets.

I get disney gift cards from my local CVS and load some money that they can use to buy their own souveniers...they don't bug me because they are in charge of their own $$. Good lessons learned too

Then I pack the bags in the luggage at home, hide them.

When we arrive we either go get food or go to the pool and I pretend to forget something, run back to the room and put out the bags for when we return. You can do this trick however works for you. they are so excited and think the items were delivered to the room!!

That way....they have the lanyards and some pins to start trading right away (save big bucks that way!), have a t-shirt to wear and have a stuffed something or towel for the pool. I find they don't bug me right away for souvieners because they think the stuff came "from disney".

I started doing this when I checked online to have a florist/gift company do the exact same thing. I did it once, it was expensive and frankly I was dissappointed with the gifts-I do a much better job for less than half!!!

Hope that helps!! have fun!! Plus the easter baskets are a good place to put spray fans and other disney items too!!!

 

[ddean1968]

I try to make something special for the kids from "Mickey" (in the past it has been buzz and woody, lilo and stitch etc.

Before I go- I get those shopping bags at the disney store (about 1 dollar each). I pick up a t-shirt for each kid w/ their newest fav. character or a souvenier/beach towel or stuffed animal and some disney snacks too etc.

I buy some pins and lanyard on ebay-with their fav. character theme.

I get the autograph books and pens cheap at one of the online disney outlets.

I get disney gift cards from my local CVS and load some money that they can use to buy their own souveniers...they don't bug me because they are in charge of their own $$. Good lessons learned too

Then I pack the bags in the luggage at home, hide them.

When we arrive we either go get food or go to the pool and I pretend to forget something, run back to the room and put out the bags for when we return. You can do this trick however works for you. they are so excited and think the items were delivered to the room!!

That way....they have the lanyards and some pins to start trading right away (save big bucks that way!), have a t-shirt to wear and have a stuffed something or towel for the pool. I find they don't bug me right away for souvieners because they think the stuff came "from disney".

I started doing this when I checked online to have a florist/gift company do the exact same thing. I did it once, it was expensive and frankly I was dissappointed with the gifts-I do a much better job for less than half!!!

Hope that helps!! have fun!! Plus the easter baskets are a good place to put spray fans and other disney items too!!!

Excellent tips