What are your Musts Do? What do you Skip?

Frozen2014 · May 27, 2015

Our last and first trip we did it all (onsite, DDP, rented car, BBB, MNSSHP, Memory Maker) as we wanted it all for our trip. But to save money next time, we'll skip some things.

Must Dos
Stay Onsite (but value resort is ok)
Park Day Tickets for each full day
Flight (too far to drive)
A few Table Service Meals OOP (maybe 2 or 4 during the week)
Quick Service for the rest (I'm not one to 'cook' on vacation, even if its just breakfast)

Can Skip
BBB
Memory Maker (a definite for first trip, but not after that)
Car (DH loved the flexibility but I would be ok giving it up to save)
Dining Plan
Park Hopper
Water Parks
Souvenirs
MNSSHP or Christmas version (forget the acronym)

How about others? What do you skip to save money?

TwoMisfits · May 27, 2015

Must Dos
Visit local family (both sides)
Go to at least one theme park (will be doing Legoland, Seaworld, Aquatica, USF, and IOA)
Try a new experience (Aquatica for this trip - may try something else, but we're gonna be checking deals and weather before deciding)
Enjoy resort facilities (water slides/pools/etc) - Bonnet Creek is too good to waste
Have a fine dining experience and/or solo date with spouse - Magical Dining Month means deals abound...but we also may try out an Escape Room - see above for new experience

...

Can Skip
Disney (wouldn't have written this a few years ago, but now it's routine)
All extra Disney experiences - I may buy a party, or I may not. I may go to Downtown Disney, since I have Disney dollars to burn and a restaurant.com gift cert to House of Blues...and there is new stuff there

....
Souvenirs/stuff - flying and price make it not worth it

...
Paid pics - my camera works and I don't mind taking photos I'm not in (no selfies here

...

davper · May 27, 2015

Must Dos
Stay onsite (I enjoy the immersion and never stay less than Moderate)
Park Tickets for at least every full day + PH + F&M options (I love the option of morning EMH, then break at lunch and go swimming at resort or WPs, then go to whatever park later)
Flight (too far)
At least a few TS meals but usually 1 per day
The rest are QS (Wife refuses to cook while on vacation and I don't blame her. We are here to relax and have fun.)
Memory Maker (well worth not having to take camera and get many great and priceless together photos)
Car (I need the flexibility)
Souvenirs (You try telling my wife 'No')
Plan something we haven't done yet
Something spontaneous that was not in the plan

Can Skip
Dining Plan unless food is the primary focus of the trip
Halloween and Xmas parties
Family visits (I am on vacation)

Yes, it costs me more money. But in the end, it is a fabulous vacation that I might be willing to pay more for.

Marionnette · May 27, 2015

Must Do's

Stay deluxe or DVC
Fly
One TS per day

Can Skip

AK, HS and DtD
park hopping
souvenir shopping
any line with a 30+ minute wait
ANY character meal

scrapquitler · May 27, 2015

Frozen2014 said:
Our last and first trip we did it all (onsite, DDP, rented car, BBB, MNSSHP, Memory Maker) as we wanted it all for our trip. But to save money next time, we'll skip some things.

Must Dos
Stay Onsite (but value resort is ok)
Park Day Tickets for each full day
Flight (too far to drive)
A few Table Service Meals OOP (maybe 2 or 4 during the week)
Quick Service for the rest (I'm not one to 'cook' on vacation, even if its just breakfast)

Can Skip
BBB
Memory Maker (a definite for first trip, but not after that)
Car (DH loved the flexibility but I would be ok giving it up to save)
Dining Plan
Park Hopper
Water Parks
Souvenirs
MNSSHP or Christmas version (forget the acronym)

How about others? What do you skip to save money?

for us, Park Hopping is a maybe, depending on our mood and the timing/duration of the trip.

Must do:
fly
park every day
MNSSHP or MVMCP if they fall during our trip
resort mug
value resort (we don't care much about the room, don't care at all about the pool)

SKIP:
pool,
waterparks,
DTD,
table service, character meals
BBB
Parades (unless we are at MNSSP or MVMCP)
Memory maker
most of the 'extras' like add on desert parties, tours, etc.

mickeyfanachey1999 · May 27, 2015

Must Dos
Stay Onsite
Ride SM, BTMRR, TOT, RNR, Star Tours, Soarin, EE, visit the shop in Japan
Take a boat ride to DTD for dinner or dessert
Wishes

Skip
Any hard ticket event
Any extra tour

nalajms · May 27, 2015

Must Dos
Fly
Stay onsite
Atleast 1 day at MK and 1 day at DHS
Meet Elsa & Anna
See Frozen Sing Along at least once
Get 1 set of Sorcerers of the MK cards
At least one afternoon in hotel pool (warm months)
1 TS per day

Skip
AK, Epcot, DTD, Water parks
Most EMH
Tours, parades, fireworks

Hopefully the E&A phase will pass soon :faint:

DS's lion king phase lasted for 5 years, where we watch FOTLK at least 2x each trip.

Pesky · May 27, 2015

Must Dos: (given I haven't been in -- ahem -- years, there are a lot but I'll just hit the highlights)
Stay onsite, both WDW and US
MNSSHP
Some good table meals, including 2 fancy dinners for just DH and me
Eat at F&WF
Family Magic Tour and/or Behind the Seeds Tour
TRex Café for my dino-loving DS
HDDR and/or Ohana
one down day (likely combined with MNSSHP)

Skip:
resort hopping
We aren't huge parade or fireworks people but we'll go by what the kids want to do
dining plan -- just isn't fitting for us
water park -- another one not fitting this go round

eliza61 · May 27, 2015

Must do's

park hoppers
Soarin
Via Napoli
Car

Negotiable
On site. If I'm not using points, no way in heck would I ever pay Disney's prices of Deluxe. lol not when there is a Waldorf less than a mile away.
TS dining. while I enjoy most meals I can honestly say that we have no "must do" restaurants. we've been enough times where going off site for a great meal is a welcome perk.

KTSMOM · May 27, 2015

Must Dos:
On site hotel
Park Hopper
1 or 2 TS

Skip:
Flying
Water Parks (although I personally like going to them)
Disney Quest

Gumbo4x4 · May 27, 2015

Must do:
DRIVE (we detest flying & it's a budget breaker anyway)
Private bedroom for DW & I
Water parks (both!)

Can skip:
Any meal that requires a reservation
DHS
On-site stay

bababear_50 · May 27, 2015

Must Do's

Am. Extra Magic Hours--early riser here
Stay onsite-DVC member--although I will and have stayed offsite if a good deal comes up.
Fly--just too far to drive
No cell phone-I do take the tablet for resort use
Epcot Flower and Garden Festival
Take time to enjoy the resort,gym, hot tub ,pool, pool activities.
Shop--one time I do not say NO to myself
Take the boat to DTD
Water Park day
Funnel cake and strawberries
Enjoy a good movie (Dine In) at DTD
soak up every bit of that sunshine I can
Refillable Mug--I drink lots of tea and coffee.
Starbucks Bristo Boxes

Can Skip

Dessert Parties--just too expensive now and I've been many times
DHS- waiting for something new
AK-waiting for something new
sometimes MK---been many times
Dinning plan
won't wait in a line-up past 20 minutes for any ride or attraction.
M.V.M.C.P.

Hugs Mel

Edited to add:
I would do MNSSHP if it was during a planned trip but LOVED " Disney's Princess and Pirates Party"

ELSA711 · May 27, 2015

Must Dos
Fantasmic
FOLK
Tusker House
Safari
Akershus
F&W
FOF Parade
Test Track
Soarin
Monsters (I laugh every time)

Skip
Staying at Fav Resort
Chef Mickeys
LMA Show @HS
Maybe MNSSHP (makes me sad though)
Meet Anna and Elsa - been there done that
Water Parks
DTD
Boardwalk
POC

Frozen2014 · May 27, 2015

Marionnette said:
Must Do's

Stay deluxe or DVC
Fly
One TS per day

Can Skip

AK, HS and DtD
park hopping
souvenir shopping
any line with a 30+ minute wait
ANY character meal

Ha ha...I see then that you just like MK and Epcot.
We skipped AK last trip but didn't mind HS (but can see it's not for everyone)

Frozen2014 · May 27, 2015

Thanks for the great replies

StitchBuddy · May 27, 2015

Must
stay on-site in a one bedroom
go to Magic Kingdom
eat one character meal
water park for a couple of days
Lion King
fireworks
take the drawing class

Skip
Epcot
Cape May
afternoon parades
resort mug
memory maker

dprincessmom · May 28, 2015

Must for this trip

)
All 4 parks & the headlining rides
On-site
Driving (we live close enough, I wouldn't add the expense)
Breakfast at Ohana
Wishes
SOTMK play for DD
Animation Academy

Can Skip
Water Parks and More (love them, but if it is a short trip would rather have the time in the parks)
Park Hoppers (again, love it but can skip for budget/time reasons)
Off-Site (Just doesn't seem like a WDW vacation to me)
Memory Maker
DDP (nice to have, but not a deal breaker)
DTD
1900 Park Fare
Chef Mickey's
Daily Dining Reservations

TheDisneyNurse · May 28, 2015

Must do:
-Stay onsite (If I go with my family, we always stay at the WL. Values when I go with friends)
-Be at the park before rope drop
-Stay in the parks from open to close (I'm sure that'll end once I get older...)
-Fantmastic
-That soda tasting thing in Epcot. It's a classic
-BOG Restuarant
-Ohana'
-Beaches and cream during my Epcot park days

Skip:
-Wishes. I'm usually just walking through the park during it to other rides.
-MSEP
-AK, when I take smaller trips. It's always the park I drop.
-Buying breakfast. I wake up at the crack of dawn, and we usually just bring something to eat quickly in the room
-Dining plan. You save so much money by doing everything seperately, imo

kathy884 · May 28, 2015

Must Do

SeaWorld (We can't go to Orlando without going here at least once and often on longer stays we do the very economical 2nd day later in the week here too)
Rope drop every park day (love/relish those first two hours)
fly down and rent a car or ride with relatives who have a car (have to have the flexibility a car brings -- allows us to easily meet up with relative who live in the area and do anything we fancy)

Desirable

Meet with extended family and stay in offsite condo all together
some pool time
Park we visit the next most often to SeaWorld would be the Magic Kingdom, but we at one time or another have been to them all // Like to see all the new stuff (if any)

Can Skip

Anything else -- we mix it up
onsite - Usually stay offsite
A theme park every day -- One week stay -- usually just three theme parks and three days of other things (beach, Kennedy Space Center, resort day with other minor attraction combo, etc.)
Multiday tickets -- with as few days as we do, we just pick whatever we are inclined to do (SeaWorld, Disney, Universal)
long stays -- we enjoy short trips immensely and have done quite a few of these -- On a mini three night/two day stay three theme parks we do two parks and sometimes even get a hopper to do favorites in minimal amount of time

sunflowerfields · May 28, 2015

Before our first trip to DW my husband and I sat down and made a list of wants/needs. After 43 yrs. of marriage we had never been gone anywhere longer than a weekend. We will be coming back to Disney for the 3rd time next May and here is our list of things we still must do and those we will skip.

Must Do:
stay on site (always at the values because we will only be spending time sleeping/showering)
fly-we live too far away to drive. it would take 2 days down and 2 back home, and we are not
good at 4-6 lanes and merging. Terrifying!!!!!

1 day in each park
dining plan for convenience. We decided it is our vacation and want it to be as carefree as possible, but we do use our snack credits for breakfast and then if we want a snack in the parks just buy it.
as many table service meals as possible. I love all those neat eating places!
Sunshine Seasons!
those chocolate covered caramels with sea salt!
the drawing classes

Skips:
park hoppers-we haven't seen/done everything in one day at any park yet.
souvenirs

What are your Musts Do? What do you Skip?

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