Money saving tips we used.

[JimGA]

We have been two times with our kids, they are now 8 and 11, both times we stayed at a Disney Moderate Resort, highly reccomend it, even if it is more, totally worth the Disney Magic.

We drive, so some might be tough, but we always buy the kids Disney mercahndise surprises from the Disney store or Wal Mart, like PJ's, plush dolls, anything Disney, look for the sale items on the Disney store web site, lots of bargins there, wait for a free shipping promo to really save some $. Wal Mart also has a lot of Disney stuff. We pack it away and keep it hidden, when we get to the resort my wife or I will go off to the room and put the items out on the beds while the other distracts the kids by checking out the pool. Then the kids come in and have all kinds of surprises. This also helps take away their urge to "want" things, since they have a room full of items, plus you got them at a bargain price.

Also, since we drive, we pack snacks and bottles of water plus we pack cereals for the room for breakfast, one less meal to buy, you can store you milk and fruit in the refrig in the room. Happy Planning!

 

[tophatgirl]

We do much of the same but I never thought of making the new items seem so special by having them be a surprise when you arrive. Thanks for the tip!

 

[GusGus77]

We bought a Minnie and Mickey plush from a neighbor's garage sale (looked new) and brought them with us to WDW. My DH brought them to the front desk and they delivered them to our room for dd and ds during the day when we were at the parks. So the kids came back from the parks to find their Mickey and Minnie waiting for them on the bed!

 

[awoogala]

We drive, stop for groceries when we get there, usually eat a bagel or protein bar for breakfast, bring snacks and sodas to the park, keep cocktail makings in the room for nightime.
I bring my keurig, and disposable coffee cups..because I refuse to drink their coffee...and I don't want to wait for coffee in the morning.
We bring glow necklaces for the kids for night.
We don't buy much in the parks, because our kids don't tend to ask for much, so we haven't had to do the pre-shopping.

 

[jenjordan]

We share meals. Disney portions are huge so we end up splitting a lot. I think the last time we were there, DH didn't order a single meal of his own, he usually ate half of mine, plus what the kids had left and he was stuffed!

 

[Heididisco]

We have been staying off-property the last few years (more space for teenagers over a 7-10 day visit!) Although we fly, we usually pack english muffins, cereal, coffee, teabags, jelly, peanut butter, granola bars, dishwasher cubes, fabric softener sheets and garbage bags for our condo, as we only use a limited supply of these items over the course of the week and they are so expensive at the local stores. We save a TON by eating breakfast at the condo and also having pb&j sandwiches for snacks.

 

[tcherjen]

We are going to be eating breakfast in the room. I was wondering how you guys brought drinks to the park. Do you carry a cooler? I realize it is the soft cooler, but do you tote it with you all day?

 

[dancin Disney style]

-ziploc bags for storing leftovers or dividing snacks
-crystal light(or whatever) single serve packets to add to tap water
-tap water is free in all parks and restaurants
-in room breakfast and snacks
-soda or coffee drinker? get a resort refillable mug....you only need to use it 5 times for it to pay off
-TS meals...order 1 appy and 1 entre to share between 2 people
-TS/CS meals....stick to water, it's FREE....sodas will cost you approx $3 each
-CS meals...do your research, find the places that offer the largest portions and share
-CS meals...order a kids combo
-use airmiles or other rewards to get park tickets...huge savings
-make detailed plans....this can eliminate the need for park hoppers
-flying? pack light and plan to do a load of laundry....saves on baggage charges. Make sure you bring some detergent and dryer sheets. This is done in less than 90 minutes while you relax at the pool.


Souvies......put your kids in charge of their own money. Make it clear how much they have and when it's gone, it's gone.

 

[JimGA]

We are going to be eating breakfast in the room. I was wondering how you guys brought drinks to the park. Do you carry a cooler? I realize it is the soft cooler, but do you tote it with you all day?

I always empty out one of my kids backpack they use for school and take that with us. I place bottles of water and snacks in the backpack, along with handsanitizers, sunblock, my camera and anything else you might need. The backpack is easy adn it keeps your hands free.

 

[loveshak22]

-ziploc bags for storing leftovers or dividing snacks
-crystal light(or whatever) single serve packets to add to tap water
-tap water is free in all parks and restaurants
-in room breakfast and snacks
-soda or coffee drinker? get a resort refillable mug....you only need to use it 5 times for it to pay off
-TS meals...order 1 appy and 1 entre to share between 2 people
-TS/CS meals....stick to water, it's FREE....sodas will cost you approx $3 each
-CS meals...do your research, find the places that offer the largest portions and share
-CS meals...order a kids combo
-use airmiles or other rewards to get park tickets...huge savings
-make detailed plans....this can eliminate the need for park hoppers
-flying? pack light and plan to do a load of laundry....saves on baggage charges. Make sure you bring some detergent and dryer sheets. This is done in less than 90 minutes while you relax at the pool.


Souvies......put your kids in charge of their own money. Make it clear how much they have and when it's gone, it's gone.

I bolded the one that really saved for us last trip! We drink lots of water and the water fountains are usually hot so we'd buy bottle water. I learned on one of these threads that all of the food places give free ice water to you if you ask. Whenever I found a place without much of a line I'd stop and get us all ice waters.

This saved us quite a bit! We only drink soda duirng lunch or dinner and the ddp covered that expense. The last trip there were 4 of us and so 2-3 bottles of water throughout the day each really would have added up. This also saves you from having to lug around bottles of water throughout the day.

 

[tcherjen]

I always empty out one of my kids backpack they use for school and take that with us. I place bottles of water and snacks in the backpack, along with handsanitizers, sunblock, my camera and anything else you might need. The backpack is easy adn it keeps your hands free.

Awesome!! That is a great idea.

 

[dzneelvr]

I can add 3: rain ponchos 2/$1 at Dollartree instead of having to spring for the ponchos in the parks. Bring 2 for each person.
Also, bring empty water bottles in your luggage to fill up in the parks. Finally, we fly Allegiant and they don't offer anything beverage/food for free anymore, so I pak our own cheese/crackers and trail mix to enjoy on the flights. Using the empty water bottle, I refill them once we're through security and.no expense during the flight.

 

[lindsey]

Instead of the dollar tree ponchos , I bought one of the Coleman ponchos at Wal-Mart each month. That way it did not seem like lots of money at one time (this was 4 adults, 2 kids)

 

[ironpig70]

We take snacks and water bottles with us.

The crystal light/water packs save big money. Best part is there is lots of flavors and you can mix and match at will so the possibilities are endless.

Dollar store for glow bracelets, Disney stuff from crayons to coloring books.

Research, research and more research.

For laundry we found Tide in solid blocks each in its own pouch. Makes laundry easy and no worries about spills.

When we fly pack light and pack duffel bags. When we come home souvenirs go in luggage and cushioned by clothes. Any over flow goes in duffel bag as a carry on.

On trip out take a backpack of snacks and things needed for kids. Most flights charge for meals.

 

[disn3ymomma212]

I fill up on items from our local Dollar Tree.
Items like:
Glow Bracelets
Pop Tarts
Crackers
Juice
Coloring Books
Water Bottles
Crayons

I also use magicstrollers.com for renting strollers, way cheaper than WDW strollers, you can use them at the park and the resort. Also undercovertourist.com has WDW tickets for cheaper but only saves around $10. Lastly look for discounts on WDW resorts most are usually above 15% savings!

Have a magical vacation!

 

[TeamTilson]

At the end of our trip, we ended up with a lot of leftover Snack Points on the DDP and purchased souvenir candies/snacks for the folks that helped us while we were gone (pet sitter, neighbor who got our mail, teachers, etc). We bought the rice krispy snacks that were shaped as Mickey. They were a huge hit and we didn't have to buy any extra "Thank You" trinkets.

Packing breakfast was perfect for us and we brought snacks/drinks to keep from purchasing in the park. Freeze a bottle of water or two and it'll melt throughout the day!

Purchase pin packs online ahead of time through Disney store (or through a reputable ebay seller) so you can trade in the parks! The pins by itself are expensive on site. My kids LOVED trading with the CMs!

We also made our own Autograph books and used a fat/retractable sharpie pen, the characters loved the unique design and we got lots of great comments from the CMs! You can google how to make one, lots of easy tutorials on blogs and pintrest.

Go higher up and get the good rain ponchos from Walmart/Target. We brought one of each and the Dollar Tree ponchos were awful. It felt like a trash bag with an opening for your head and arms. They only lasted a couple of hours.

Bring a lanyard with an ID holder for you KTTW cards/personal CC/Debit cards, ID, etc. It's always in sight so you know you'll have it. Plus you use the KTTW card so many times for FP/DDP that it's nice to have it accessible.

ALL these tips I picked up from the great folks on this board! Happy to pass them along!

 

[brenbrady]

I fill up on items from our local Dollar Tree.
Items like:
Glow Bracelets
Pop Tarts
Crackers
Juice
Coloring Books
Water Bottles
Crayons

I also use magicstrollers.com for renting strollers, way cheaper than WDW strollers, you can use them at the park and the resort. Also undercovertourist.com has WDW tickets for cheaper but only saves around $10. Lastly look for discounts on WDW resorts most are usually above 15% savings!

Have a magical vacation!

I was looking at tickets from Unercovertourist, i would need 5 adults and 1 child so it was a pretty good savings. Do you activate them at park and how long from when you order do you receive them? Any problems with them?
Thanks in advance for your help

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Having a rental car and eating off property is a our big $$$$ saver. Packing snacks and drinks to take into the park is life saver. especially when the hunger pangs hit. Another great lunch idea... if you are at the MK the best place to get lunch is the Hess gas station by the car care center! They have a nice cafe area with tables/chairs. they offer hot dogs 2 for $1.00, subs, grill chicken sandwiches, drinks, ice cream, donuts - which I think are Dunkin Donuts now, pizza by slice and whole pizza for $8.00 - and on certain days you get a free 2 litter of soda with the purchase of a whole pizza.

In Oct we had lunch there and got 4 hot dogs, 2 / 20 oz pepsi, and a bag of combo's for a grand total of $7.35 that feed two people. Compared to a the hotdog meal at Casey Corner in the MK which runs $8.00 and no drink and that is for ONE meal.

Plus while you are there you can pick up a case of water or fruit to take back to your room. Not mention the beer prices are better here too.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

I was looking at tickets from Unercovertourist, i would need 5 adults and 1 child so it was a pretty good savings. Do you activate them at park and how long from when you order do you receive them? Any problems with them?
Thanks in advance for your help

We always use UTC. Never had any problems and we have used them since 2004. They become activated once you make your first park visit and you have 14 days from the activation date to use the tickets. The ticket deliver is fairly quick and if not you can pick the tickets up at the UPS location listed on the UCT site.

 

[purpledisneyprncess]

We have been two times with our kids, they are now 8 and 11, both times we stayed at a Disney Moderate Resort, highly reccomend it, even if it is more, totally worth the Disney Magic.

We drive, so some might be tough, but we always buy the kids Disney mercahndise surprises from the Disney store or Wal Mart, like PJ's, plush dolls, anything Disney, look for the sale items on the Disney store web site, lots of bargins there, wait for a free shipping promo to really save some $. Wal Mart also has a lot of Disney stuff. We pack it away and keep it hidden, when we get to the resort my wife or I will go off to the room and put the items out on the beds while the other distracts the kids by checking out the pool. Then the kids come in and have all kinds of surprises. This also helps take away their urge to "want" things, since they have a room full of items, plus you got them at a bargain price.

Also, since we drive, we pack snacks and bottles of water plus we pack cereals for the room for breakfast, one less meal to buy, you can store you milk and fruit in the refrig in the room. Happy Planning!

Same here!! We drive too and not only is that cheaper than flying the 4 of us; we can bring down our snacks, breakfast items, a coffee pot if need be, case of water, etc. I like your idea of purchasing in advance a few little surprises for the kids. I agree that Walmart has some cute Disney stuff, esp. the outfits.

Another tip is we stay in Downtown Disney and take the free shuttle to the parks each day. It is so much cheaper- I did the calculations on staying at a downtown disney hotel compared to in the parks and for us, it was $1500 cheaper. We don't mind staying offsite, esp. b/c there is so much action in downtown disney, and we love visiting there as well.