Advice for paid trip but everything else must be budget

[yeahdisney]

We bring cereal with us. I have room for it in luggage and I buy it on sale at home. The kids carried one pop into the park when gone, gone, drank water at that point. Drank water at meals, they would rather have a fun snack later. Each kids took two snacks a day into the parks, in their pockets, cargo shorts, and they could eat whenever they wanted. Two of us will share a Meal at the Plaza and get a shake too to share. Brought half a loaf of bread from home, left what was left there, I knew one kid would get nothing from the BOG meal and ate a peanut butter sandwich we brought in after we left the restaraunt, DD did order
a drink and dessert. Brought salad dressing from home, spices and couple Condiments from home. Brought spag noodles from home. Brought the rest there and had spag supper in our villa with a salad. T Rex we got the full slabs ribs and shared between two people. Ate one buffet at 10:50 cheaper price, enough meat items they we counted it as lunch and cheaper. I can totally eat a cheese cream pretzel as a meal, knowing a yummy supper later. We too did pizza for one meal. And we too use our weekly food budget for our disney week.

 

[MinnieSweetheart]

Make your own rice crispie treats and bring those down. Run the numbers to see whether a checked bag full of groceries would be cheaper than paying for shipping to send down the food.

Your rice krispie treats probably taste better too, BUT there is NO way I'm eating a rice krispie that isn't in the shape of a Mickey Head while at Disney World. I just can't.

 

[Happyjen27]

Your rice krispie treats probably taste better too, BUT there is NO way I'm eating a rice krispie that isn't in the shape of a Mickey Head while at Disney World. I just can't.

It's so funny you say that, that's the only treat I bother to bring home from The World. Seriously, I love them, eat quite a few while I'm there, and bring them home. Was just there in Sept without my kids, guess what I bought to bring home to them? Yup, 1 pin, 1 mickey krispie treat!! Buuuuut, if I were trying to save money, I'd pocket that 5 bucks and eat my square treat in a heartbeat.

 

[nordkin]

Thank you so much for all the ideas . I am very excited I just wanted to be better prepared because it might take another 7 years to go again. Lol. I love all the ideas so far. We are flying Southwest so technically we can take 10 bags for free. Which we don't need that many. Lol. Marionette what is a "TiW" card? I am still DVC but we are not staying there until the last day since our flight doesn't leave until late that night. Please keep the advice coming.

I am confused. You say you are DVC and are not staying there until the last day. If you are DVC you can rent out your points and have plenty of spending money. Tables in Wonderland has just gone up in price and is only good for a maximum of 10 people. You have to spend $750 before it pays for itself. It is only good at a couple of counter service locations so you would have to eat table service meals or the food courts at the value resorts. DVC members also receive discounts at many table service restaurants, usually 10%.

 

[justmeinflorida]

Your rice krispie treats probably taste better too, BUT there is NO way I'm eating a rice krispie that isn't in the shape of a Mickey Head while at Disney World. I just can't.

It's so funny you say that, that's the only treat I bother to bring home from The World. Seriously, I love them, eat quite a few while I'm there, and bring them home. Was just there in Sept without my kids, guess what I bought to bring home to them? Yup, 1 pin, 1 mickey krispie treat!! Buuuuut, if I were trying to save money, I'd pocket that 5 bucks and eat my square treat in a heartbeat.

Why not make your own? http://www.thedisneydiner.com/2011/12/goofys-candy-company-mickey-rice.html

OP: I would say check your local Dollar Tree for some cheap inexpensive items to take with you to WDW also. I was just there two days ago and saw Jiff To Go 3pks for a buck, in Epcot @sunshine Seasons you can get a bag of pita bread for $1.99 and if you have a cooler, get a small squirt bottle of jelly and viola you have some mini PBJ sandwiches. You can also do this with the Brunswick chicken and tuna salad kits for a buck. They come with crackers but to make it more filling use the pita breads. For breakfast I would go with cereal, bagels and small container of cream cheese, for lunch a loaf of bread, pack of mixed lunch meat and cheese, a multi-pack of chips. Bring those single serve powdered drink mixes as water is always free at the parks. You could always bring one of these http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0..._m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=172V6W9QZFFXNZ256QHJ and bring your own soda bottles. We love our bags...lunch and snacks (fruit & veggies, mayo, etc) go in one bag and soda goes in another.

Here's some more tips: http://www.mousesavers.com/walt-dis...ney-world-meal-snack-drink-discounts-coupons/

 

[hershey2014]

I feel tour pain. When we went on our 1st trip years ago we only had 200.00 for 5 of us for 2 weeks. We did have the dining plan tho. But we had a blast even tho we couldnt splurge at all. Go and have fun!

 

[tobikaye]

I am looking into a WDW trip in 2016 with my sister, but this one, at least at this time, will need to be on a tighter budget. Below are some ideas I came up with that we might be able to do. Maybe some will help you.

Food:

1. Character meals - Breakfast and Lunch are normally cheaper.
   
2. Snacks - Take small easy to carry snacks with protein, such as cheese sticks or peanut butter apple sandwiches. Then we might only need one special one a day.
   
3. Table Service - Share a larger entree and just order an appetizer or each a soup or salad. (This is something we do more and more due to appetite size.)
4. Breakfast in the room - We have done this just for ease of mornings when neither wanted much for breakfast. Last trip, we had muffins and cereal. I had brought those individual milk cartons that do not have to be refrigerated. We just put them in the fridge when we got to WDW.
5. Lunch in the parks - Look at ideas for picnic lunches or school lunches on Pinterest, you might find some ideas that you could make work with what you have on hand. I found many that would be quite appetizing for taking to the parks.
6. Drinks - Bring your own

Do not forget that you can use the toaster and microwaves in the food courts at the resorts.
You might consider doing a taxi to a grocery store for a few items. Not sure if it would save much in the long run, but it might.

Souvenirs:

1. Pinterest before you go: You might be able to DIY or find some items you could give the kids once you get there. Then it would still be something unexpected.
2. Dollar Tree: I found quite a few items that I used to make up a small gift bag for my sister before we went to give her something to in the room.
3. Disney Gift Card with a set amount to each kid: They can buy what they want with it. Even $25 would get them either a bunch of little items or a t shirt at some store.
4. Disney Store Online: Look for sales that you can use to buy items before you go.
5. Be honest with your kids, especially the older ones. Let them know about how much you can spend on each of them so they are not asking for something unless it is something they really want.

My biggest advise would be to not spend a lot of time in the stores. Have some snacks the kids enjoy a lot on hand so that they are more likely to ask for those than the ones in the parks. As long as you do not focus your trip on the food or souvenirs, the kids likely will not either.

 

[HM]

The number one thing that saves money is not buying any souveniers. Take photos on your camera to remember the trip.

The second thing that saves us a lot of money, is not buying any drinks at WDW. We drink water at meals and ask for free cups of water at CS and Kiosks (some have water, some don't) when we get thirsty. Let your kids know that this is what you will be doing for this trip. They can handle it.

The third thing is not doing Table Service meals. If the rest of the family is doing meals at TS, that would be one time when you will have to go your separate ways. Choose CS meals that can easily be shared with your kids. If someone is still hungry later, then you give them one of the snacks you brought with you from home (granola bars, peanut butter crackers, peanuts, apple slices).

These may not seem ideal, but they will save you money. As pointed out by others previously, saving each week on things you don't necessarily need before your trip will allow you to have more money to spend during your trip and maybe you won't have to be quite as drastic as #3 above.

 

[pjlla]

Probably just repeating here, but I am great at budget trips! Just returned from my first semi-budget trip to Bermuda. We had to pay for one checked bag each ($35/bag) and I made sure mine was full of food.... it had to be able to pay for itself by saving me AT LEAST $35. I brought cocktails (single serving wine and other similar small drinks), bread (mini bagels, naan, Sandwich Thins), pre-cooked veggie/egg patties (homemade), cheeses (Baby Bel, Laughing Cow, etc), hard boiled eggs, tuna, canned chicken, raisins, Weight Watcher snack bars and chips, homemade "instant" oatmeal packets, peanut butter, coffee and shelf- stable creamer, paper plates and bowls and plastic utensils, etc etc. We ate 2-3 meals PER DAY in room for the entire trip. Sure it wasn't exactly gourmet..... but we really enjoyed our restaurant meals even more! We had oatmeal and coffee, egg sandwiches and coffee, bagels and peanut butter and coffee for breakfast, turkey sandwiches, chicken sandwiches, hummus and chips, hardboiled eggs for lunch and had plenty of snacks all the time. Plus we were able to enjoy "cocktail hour" in our room before heading out for dinner! That suitcase probably paid for itself in ONE MEAL! Food was expensive at the resort and a hassle to get to if it was off of the busline (taxis were expensive!).

I know you are talking about Disney, but I have done VERY SIMILARLY at Disney and many other locations. I have also shipped myself a box to the resort in the past..... the shipping was kind of expensive, but when DS had some significant food allergies, it brought peace of mind along with cheaper food! Best of luck.....P

 

[kj2mom]

Soo many great ideas already shared but I do think it is as important now to concentrate on the budget as it is when you get there. When I found out I was going to Disney I had 6 months to prepare. I called my cable company and asked if there was anything they could do for me and they reduced my bill back to what it was when I first became a customer which saved me $70 a month! I previously allowed myself to go to Dunkin Donuts once a week, I stopped that immediately. I used to allow myself lunch out once a week, I stopped that immediately. Every penny went right into the Disney fund.

Buying gift cards at less than face value has been a huge savings for me, I am not just talking Disney gift cards I am talking every day use ones. For example, my son has a monthly fundraiser at Dairy Queen. We go there for dinner to help support his organization. The way the scheduling worked out we were going 3 times in 6 weeks so I went to giftcardgranny and found a $100 Dairy Queen gift card for $75, cha ching $25 to the Disney fund. I do this for anything I buy, daughter needed jeans from Old Navy, bought a reduced gift card, put the savings in the Disney fund. Places like BJ's sell gift cards at less than face value, buy one a week until the trip. You may not have as much time as you were hoping but that doesn't mean you shouldn't take advantage of the time you do have.

I packed a box of snacks and breakfast items. We ate breakfast in the room every morning and had snacks for those moments when you needed a little pick me up. Sure, we still had a Mickey ice cream bar or two but sometimes it was just as good to reach into the bag and have our fill. We used Brita water bottles and got free water to fill them up. We shared meals, we got the chicken/ribs/mashed potatoes/green beans at Cosmic Rays and all 3 of us shared (myself, 13 year old son, 13 year old daughter), and it did not lessen our experience at all.

Prepare as best you can and then go have some fun! I know I would personally set up the expectations with my children. I did mention to them prior to going that sometimes we would share meals, that they would be responsible for their own souvenirs (they had received gift cards from family). I think the trip went much smoother with them knowing what we were able to spend and what we weren't. When we were actually there it was funny that sometimes they were the ones to suggest sharing a meal when I wasn't even thinking about it and I was the one saying, I can buy you that when they were like nope, I will use my money.

Have a great trip!!

 

[kj2mom]

Oh another thing is to look at places like RetailMeNot for coupon codes. Every single time you buy anything look for a code, it is amazing sometimes how much you can save just by taking a few seconds to search for a code! Any $$ saved goes right into the Disney fund.