Best Money Saving Tips @ WDW

[disneychrista]

What are you best money saving tips for while you are at WDW?

Mine are -

Eat breakfast in your room.

Save buying souvineers until the end of your trip. Set a budget and stick to it.

 

[dhardawa]

1. I only go during free dining and don't buy any food that isn't on the dining plan.

2. I don't buy any souvenirs that can be purchased at The Disney Store because they have sales and things like 25% off codes plus Ebates way too often for me to spend full price in the park.

3. I order a case of water to be delivered to the resort before we arrive so we always have drinks in the rooms and water to take to the park.

I have tried giving the kids Disney gift cards for birthdays and holidays before the trip for their souvenirs, but I'm a sucker and buy more if they go over. For the most part, I'm not real budget conscious once I'm in the parks. It is leading up to the actual vacation that I'm a budgeter.

 

[Marionnette]

Do your research before you go. Find the best price for everything from room to food to transportation. Then, relax! You're on vacation and you've already saved money by cutting your costs before you even packed your bags.

I don't enjoy the idea of looking for that bargain t-shirt at an outlet when I could be riding Rock n Rollercoaster. I don't want to be mulling over the snack choices at Main St. Bakery that can be used for tomorrow's breakfast while the parade is wending its way toward the castle. I don't want to be going back and forth with the front desk and bell services over a missing box of stuff that I mailed down a week before hand when I could be having a relaxing drink by the pool.

The more research that you do ahead of time, the less penny-pinching you will need to do while you are there.

 

[PrincessSteph]

I don't have any really creative ideas, but this is what we do to help keep costs down:

Our children get their spending money on a gift card. On our last trip older DD (4.5 at the time) wanted a Princess dress when I told her it would cost all of her money she quickly changed her mind.

DH and I share meals. Our thought is that we can always go back and order more food if necessary, but we have not had to. We also eat breakfast in our room.

We take bottled water and snacks into the park with us (we still have a stroller so we are not carrying these).

I plan my days ahead of time and only purchase a basic ticket (no hopping for us).

I make a Welcome Gift for my kids rather than buying through the Disney Florist. On our last trip the kids received Mickey t-shirt & sweatshirt, 2 plush dolls (all purchased on sale from the Disney store) and numerous Target dollar bin items. I went to the Creative Disigns area to get the tag for each gift. My kids were just talking the other day about the gifts from Mickey!

 

[squirrel]

I buy one souviener bucket of popcorn and then refill with microwave popcorn that I brought from home.

Even with Free Dining I still have cereal most mornings. I bring a box of Cheerios and then use milk from lunch/dinner DDP credits and store it in the fridge.

 

[PrincessSteph]

I buy one souviener bucket of popcorn and then refill with microwave popcorn that I brought from home.

Even with Free Dining I still have cereal most mornings. I bring a box of Cheerios and then use milk from lunch/dinner DDP credits and store it in the fridge.

Stupid Question but where is there a microwave to do this? Popcorn is our treat of choice - last trip we purchased it almost everyday.

 

[ceecee]

Stupid Question but where is there a microwave to do this? Popcorn is our treat of choice - last trip we purchased it almost everyday.

There is a microwave in the food court.
Our biggest saving tip is probably sharing meals as they are way too big for one of us to eat alone.

 

[amy-momofthree]

Stick with the one park a day tickets! Others may benefit from Park hoppers, but for our family, there is plenty to do in one park for the day!!

 

[englishteacha]

We drink lots of free water. We try not to carry much with us in the parks, so we stop at water fountains regularly, and get ice water from counter service restaurants. (Sometimes I bring some of those Kool Aid single serve packets in my pocket that we then add to a cup of water. Cheaper than soda and a tiny bit healthier.)

We bring disposable ponchos with us for those "just in case" rainstorms. They're 2 for $1 at Dollar Tree and fit in a pocket. If it's going to rain all day, we bring our more rugged ponchos from home rather than having to buy a WDW poncho (though, as Disney stuff goes, those aren't too expensive).

For us, it's cheaper to stay offsite since we have to travel in peak times. Each trip I've run the costs of onsite/offsite and offsite has been cheaper each trip. An added bonus is the condo we often rent has a washer/dryer so I can pack lightly and toss in a load of wash midweek, meaning no/lower baggage fees.

 

[Que_Sarah_Sarah]

Definitely sharing CS meals and eating breakfast in the room. We also bring snacks from home to tide us over between meals (chewy bars!!!).

 

[crisi]

Make sure you pack what you are likely to need. Sunscreen, feminine products, extra socks, bandaids, tylenol, camera batteries, etc. These are the things that when you realize that you left them at home cost an arm and a leg in the gift shop.

Buy a bottle of liquor and mixer in the resort gift store rather than getting pool drinks. Still cheaper, don't drink alcohol or soda at all and stick to water.

Consider your transportation needs. For many people who stay on site, Magical Express and Disney transportation are sufficient. Consider a cab for the "one trip" you wanted a car for, one round trip cab fare is generally cheaper than a week worth of car rental.

Don't fall victim to "everyone says we have to....." There are some really cool things that can be added onto a Disney trip - everything from the racetrack to character meals to Cirque to BBB....., and each of those things is on someone else's "must do" list. Your trip, your budget.

 

[sarahlovesmickey]

1) We always stay offsite. Because of the size of our family (plus, my mom usually comes with us), it's cheaper for us to do this.

2) We also always drive to Disney because flights are outrageously priced. If we flew, it would cost us an arm and a leg and we would have to rent a car once down there.

3) We always eat breakfast in our room or on the way to the parks.

4) We always bring our snacks and drinks into the park with us. We also get water at the counter service place and add flavored stuff to them because we hate the taste of city water.

5) Our kids tend to share meals because the younger kids never eat an entire meal themselves.

6) Sometimes we will do a late lunch character buffet meal so that we aren't hungry around dinner time and just have a snack or whatever.