Best Tip for cheapo trips?

[smola09's mom]

In Downtown Disney there is a store where every item is $10.00 or less. My children even found trading pins there for $3.95. We also got 2 stuffed Minnie Mouses for my nieces @ 2 for $5.00.

 

[DisnyMama]

Hi There!
My DS and I just returned from a 9 nite stay and as a single mom I had to budget. We stayed at AS Sports. If you are able to bring breakfast items such as Oatmeal you can get hotwater in the foodcourt. If you bring Pop-Tarts there is a Toaster in the Food Court. I know people send/ship via UPS a box of food ahead to the resort with food such as Peanut butter (jelly packs are available for free in the food court so you could make PB & J sandwiches), bread, snack bars, cereals, etc. You can purchase milk in the food court or you could enclose a small cooler with your package or bring one with you to keep milk in. You can buy larger packaging of milk in the gift shop along with some breakfast items like donuts and pastries. Also, one thing that I had heard of on this board and we tried was ordering a Double Cheeseburger which comes with a ton of fries and asking for an extra bun. Both of us ate dinner for about $8 bucks. We did this in the food court quite a few times and they never had a problem, they just charge you for the extra bun. We already had the mugs for unlimitted beverages.

Have a great trip!!

 

[rigsby25]

we got a 12 pack of diet coke and a 12 pack of those mini bottled waters (pepsi, sprite, lemonade.. whatever your pleasure!) and put 2 cans of pop in a ziploc bag with ice, and 2 bottles of mini water in another with ice, and viola! It kept the drinks cold and saved everything else in my bag from getting wet. It saved us A LOT because we only bought drinks at full service restaurants (we only went to one or two).

-A very common thing is to share counter service meals if you're not a huge eater. We went to Casey's for lunch at MK and got a hot dog, fries, and those mini corn dog pieces. Under $10 for 2 people for lunch!

-Limit sitdown meals. We only had 3 FS meals.. California Grill, Crystal Palace, and the Coral one at Living Seas. Everything else was CS, in the room, or off property.
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Do they let you bring your own pop into the parks?

 

[worm761]

yes they do! i am a pepsi addict and they sell no pepsi anywhere on property. i just bring it with me.

 

[digskat]

Keep souvenir spending to a minimun. Set a budget before hand and stick to it. If you have a car, try the Character Outlet for clearance items.[/QUOTE]
where is the character outlet, Thanks Kat

 

[budbeerlady]

When we went...I knew my daughter (age 7) would have the 'gimmes' if we went into a shop....sooo, my greatest money saver was to STAY OUT OF THE SHOPS! LOL! it worked though!
seriously...every day when she woke up , i had laid out a new shirt (bought on clearance all year long at the disney shop) and a toy or treat that coordinated with the shirt (also clearance! yay for bargain shopping!) some of the items were stickers, small stuffed animals, games she could play in line at the park, gummy treats, a hat, new sun glasses...etc... she never felt the need to beg in the stores then!...of course on the last day we let her pick out something in downtown disney. it worked wonderfully-she was happy and mom and dad didn't go broke!!

We did this also, Tinkerbell left dD a ton of stuff, PJs, shirts, toys, glow sticks. She didnt ask for anything.

 

[digskat]

?Where's is the character outlet? Thanks Kathy

 

[Andrea]

wow those are some great ideas, anymore lol

 

[marjie8230]

When my family went, we purchased the meal vouchers and the four of us (2 adults and 2 kids ages 3 and 8) used 1 adult and 1 child voucher. The Quick and casual only save you a little bit, but the lunch vouchers save you a ton. The waiters are eager for you to do well and they help you quite a bit. Basically, they work like this. With each voucher you get a drink (and it can be a specialty drink or a regular soda) an appetizer, an entree and a dessert. This may not seem like much but with the 2 vouchers it was a lot of food. Then I would order an extra drink and to toddler would have his sippy cup from before. Sometimes we would order an extra appetizer or a salad or something but it was usually unnecessary. Now the waiter wants you to be able to order the biggest, best, most expensive item because their tip (and tax) is covered in the voucher as well (the more you "spend" the bigger their tip.) This was a huge savings for us and we ate out this way 4 times. We splurged with these vouchers and we knew that lunch was our big meal and our only meal in the parks generally.

Another way to save money on food was the turkey legs. $5 for the biggest smoked turkey leg you ever saw in your life. Tastes more like ham than turkey, really. 2 of them did us, as we share well.

The biggest thing you can do to save money is prepare your kids to share or they get NOTHING. Explain over and over that family vacations are a treat.

Buy a neat little toy for each kid for each day of your trip (99 cent store, clearance departments, target and walmart...) What I did was prepare a little note for each day indicating what the plan was for the day (this was primarily for my 8 yr old - okay, and my husband too!). With the note there would be a little toy or trinket that was somehow loosely tied in to the days activities. Not one time during the trip was she annoying about buying stuff. We did shop for a little while, but she knew she would get some little prizes every morning in the hotel room and hanging out in the stores was wasting valuable disney time.

Eat breakfast in the room. Buy snacks that you can carry easily into the parks.

I hope some of this helps. Have a great time... I wish it was me, but since it's not me I'm glad it's you.

 

[aka-mad4themouse]

When my family went, we purchased the meal vouchers and the four of us (2 adults and 2 kids ages 3 and 8) used 1 adult and 1 child voucher. The Quick and casual only save you a little bit, but the lunch vouchers save you a ton. The waiters are eager for you to do well and they help you quite a bit. Basically, they work like this. With each voucher you get a drink (and it can be a specialty drink or a regular soda) an appetizer, an entree and a dessert. This may not seem like much but with the 2 vouchers it was a lot of food. Then I would order an extra drink and to toddler would have his sippy cup from before. Sometimes we would order an extra appetizer or a salad or something but it was usually unnecessary. Now the waiter wants you to be able to order the biggest, best, most expensive item because their tip (and tax) is covered in the voucher as well (the more you "spend" the bigger their tip.) This was a huge savings for us and we ate out this way 4 times. We splurged with these vouchers and we knew that lunch was our big meal and our only meal in the parks generally.

The vouchers were great while they lasted but they've pretty much gone the way of the dinosaurs. After March of last year, they were no longer being sold by any of the usual online sources and Disney discontinued them as of 12/31/05. The MYW Dining Addon is Disney's new answer to affordable dining. Of course, you have to stay onsite and book a package to get it but that' business for you.

 

[Our2Girls&Disney]

My favorite website for cost savings is mousesavers. A lot of people here mentioned several of the suggestions on mousesavers web site, but it might be good to look through it. If you register for her newsletter she send special discounted offers to members of the newsletter.

 

[marjie8230]

I am so bummed to hear about the vouchers being cancelled. That was one of our biggest savings at WDW.

 

[dyna]

Loaf of bread and jar of peanut butter goes a long ways and easy to haul from home.

I agree cooler in room is a huge money saver.

If the kids are old enough let them earn money now before your visit for their own souvineers. As they are asking for stuff now remind them they have a disney visit coming up ask them if they want now or later at disney pocket the money saved now for later.

Oh and the change jar thing save all your change for food and souvineers, cash the change in regularly at disney store for disney dollars so you won't be tempted to spend it.

Ask yourself if dinner out before trip is what you want or if you'd rather save the money for disney meal. Yeah you still got to eat anyway but most anything you eat at out can be made at home cheaper with a little planning. Add the savings to the change jar.

Do you need that new book or magazine? Everytime you tempted to buy something and don't add the savings to the change jar.

Use coupons when shopping add the savings to the change jar.

With a little planning most of us can have quite a bit of money saved for our disney visits. Now if only my DH would use my tips lol

 

[DisneyConvert]

We both have reasonably well paying jobs, and yet a/any trip to WDW is a big (wonderful) trip and a significant expense.

We go off-peak, almost always. But we've stayed in the Beach Club, ASM, Poly, Pop and now Poly. We just feel that given the park admissions, airfare and automobile rental we can maximize our WDW experience and time (i.e., fewer vacation days) by staying on-property.

Still, we all know how good Disney is at delivering value at every rung of the ladder (and providing folks with an attractive view of the rungs just above each level!). Even the folks who stay Concierge at the GF sometimes say "No" to the Platinum Plan or possibly limit themselves to a certain number of $6.95 "just got to have" pins.

We always do WalMart runs and bring refrigerated soda (Diet Dr. Pepper!) into the park, etc. etc. We tell our little one his dessert and toy/souvenir "budget" and explain that lots of little boys and girls don't even get to go to Disney at all.

And maybe we eat at the Golden Corral (which is a great value, by the way) instead of the California Grill one nite. What's the big deal!?

There are so many ways to enjoy WDW -- saving money just allows us to do it a bit more frequently.

 

[1of6]

I love the tips! Any more?

 

[pooksma]

These are great!!! Lets have some more!!!

One of the best ones for us last year was that our DS(then 4) kept 2 piggy banks. Any change or donations he got went into what he called his Disney bank. In the end, he had $100 to spend. We told im we would buy a tshirt and he could spend his $$ on what he chose. He was actually quite frugal. He pick a Stitch hat, a stuffed Stitch on one day. Then he also chose a light up spinning stitch and a few small things. He was more controlled with his spending than I was !!!

 

[JuneCleaver]

Woozers...ask a question, get some answers! This board is great!

Notes made of all the great tips!

June

 

[Danaans]

You are welcome!!!!!Enjoy your trip!!!!!

 

[loopner67]

I've read that it's really worth it to buy a refillable mug to use at your resort. Who's done this and was it really helpful? I'm wondering if it's more of a pain to have to return the mug to your hotel room or tote it around all day long - you can't get refills in the parks, right?

A tip from me as far as souveniers for the kids.... I have them saving all of their money right now to buy themselves something. Then they are told they can pick ONE thing in the park and they have to decide on that by themselves ($20 limit or so). It's cute to hear them brain storming already about what they want (they are only 5 and 7). I like that they understand there's a limit and they can't just have everything they see - I'm sure we'll end up splurging on SOMETHING.

I also saw a tip somewhere else about buying glow sticks at the dollar store to give to your children at parade time so that they don't want to buy the glow necklaces. I might do this.