Best tips for saving money in parks

[Lthouseprincess]

Yes anywhere that has double cheeseburgers. We have done at in epcot as well as casey's in MK. We read this on the boards a few years ago. Like I said they have a button on the cash register that is for extra bun.

 

[rgrgirl]

Good to know thank you.

 

[SnowWtch]

DH and I have cup of soup/ramen, oatmeal, grits, cans of potted meat and stuff like that for in room quick dining. As long as we have a coffee pot we'll be just fine. We also carry meat and cheese sticks as snacks along with granola bars in the parks. I don't like a lot of sugary snacks so we don't pack much of that. I also purchased a pur water pitcher so we don't have to carry gallons of water with us for in the room. I'm not big on sodas. We do have a 12 pack of 20oz bottles of water and plenty of crystal lite type mixes so we save on drinks in the parks.

 

[Kim in SPR]

I have to second two ideas I've seen already. First, Walmart is an EXCELLENT place for souveniers - even the must have Disney T-shirts. Also a great place for those you're bringing stuff home for. We always make that our pre-park destination. You can't beat paying $10 for a shirt that would cost you at least $25 at the park. Multiply it for a family of 4....

While at Walmart, you can pick up your snacks and water. If you're taking a cab, the savings will WELL outweigh your cab fare.

The second idea that really worked for me is the pressed pennies. I got my younger daughter, 8 at the time, two rolls of quarters and a roll of brand new pennies before we went (thanks to a tip I read here, I think!). She loved doing the pennies and she was so busy trying to find the machines in the gift shops that she didn't even care about most of the more expensive stuff! I bought her a book to put them in and the whole package was less than $30 for a really awesome souvenier.

The kids counter meals inside Disney were actually too much for my DD(then 8) to eat. The next time we ate couter service, I actually bought one for myself and older DD (then 14) also.

Keep surfing the boards. There are so many neat things to see and do that cost very little or are free. Some of the best times my younger DD and I had were just looking for hidden Mickeys!

 

[TotalSnowWhite]

Great tips!! Just subscribing!

 

[Dawn68PA]

For those that drive:

I save my empty water bottles at home and buy gallon jugs to then fill them with. Saves me a ton of money and I do the same on vacation. A 20oz bottle of water is $1.00. A gallon of water is $.79. Do the math on 6.

Last time we went I did pack a lot of snacks. We didn't use hardly any. Our days flew by so fast as we were having so much fun we didn't even think to snack. Besides, our lunch and dinner really filled us up.

I saw lots of others on this thread did breakfast in the room. We did too. I never thought of using the coffee pot though. I don't even recall if we had one in the economy resort but if not, it'll be worth packing one to have cream of wheat in the morning!

 

[Marty Moose]

We didn't eat many counter service meals on our trip to WDW, so it never came up...but on our last trip to DL our kids' meals came with a plastic souvenir container.

I read here on the boards that you can request those meals w/o the container and save a dollar or two off the menu price!

Considering we ended up tossing them before we even got out of the park (total pain to carry around) that would have saved us some $$!!

 

[JerseyMamaBear]

any more new tips to share???

 

[Flower Power]

Just checked out the water tip on Staples and Amazon just for starters and for a 24 pack, the smallest they offer, it would cost 6.99 plus approx. 7.00 for shipping. With the adverage cost of waters at WDW being around 3.00 you would save any where from 50.00 60.00. I have never heard of this tip before but will be doing this in December. Thanks for the tip!!!

why pay the shipping from one of those...if you're ordering from a grocery have them bring it with your order.. 7$ in shipping should pay for quite a few bottles of water I would think!!

 

[mstutler31]

I didnt see this tip but we buy the 2 for $1 stretchy gloves at any discount store, Saves us $60 on buying MM gloves at the parks. Some mornings are cool and the gloves are light weight but still keeps your hands warm!

 

[JerseyMamaBear]

why pay the shipping from one of those...if you're ordering from a grocery have them bring it with your order.. 7$ in shipping should pay for quite a few bottles of water I would think!!

I see your point on the shipping cost and would buy it from the grocery but we are not ordering from the grocery store so in the end for us it still pays off. But I will keep it in mind for next time when we stay longer and look to order from the grocery store.

 

[ilovemyjj]

As far as food goes- We bring snacks and water, we get those lil packets of kool-aid, to flavor it. Breakfast is eaten in our room, we bring cereal, and buy a quart of milk, or bring parmalat.
IN the park or the eat place in the hotel, we get a double cheeseburger and fries, ask for another bun, they only charge like 69 cents for ir, and you have 2 cheeseburgers and fries!! At the park if your kid will only eat the entree, ask for just that, normally it comes with like a sandwich, grapes and applesauce, tell em just the sandwich, and it takes off like 1.50 of the price!!
Lunch or dinner at the hotel, we order a pizza for like 12 bucks, and we bring soda too. If you are at a dine in place in the world, they alwas have mac and cheese, even if its not on the menu, all you do is ask!!
Thats all i can think of at the moment.

 

[Dopey420]

All counter service restaurants will give you ice water for free. Keep soft drinks in the room and drink them there and at the pool.

The water does not taste that bad.

People who dislike the taste of Disney water = WUSSIES!

I would never bring my own food to the parks. Not only is it really disappointing to your family, but it is against Disney rules unless you have a health issue.

Definitely do the double cheeseburger-extra bun-thing.
Split meals. Most of the time the counter service meals are more than one person can eat. We get 3 meals for the 4 of us and share. If we are still hungry, we go back and get more.

Buffets are a great way to save money. Plan to eat at a time where it will cover breakfast and lunch, or lunch and dinner. You get 2 meals worth of food.

Out on Highway 192, you can get cheap souvenirs. I always go to the Big Orange World on 192 in Kissimmee. I get oranges for snacks in the room, and they always have a hugh assortment of $5 tshirts. We buy our shirts offsite, and then give them to the kids like they came from WDW.

 

[digman6]

subing .. what a great place for $$ saving trip

 

[pfalcioni]

I would never bring my own food to the parks. Not only is it really disappointing to your family, but it is against Disney rules unless you have a health issue.

Disney definitely allows food in the parks! I understand if it's just not something you want to do, but it is allowed.

Here's the list of items you aren't allowed to bring:

Items with wheels, such as wagons, skateboards, scooters, inline skates, shoes with built-in wheels, two-wheeled or three-wheeled conveyances, strollers larger than 36" x 52", suitcases, coolers, or backpacks with or without wheels larger than 24" long x 15" wide x 18" high (coolers required for medication may be stored in a locker or at Guest Relations), and any trailer-like object that is pushed or towed by an ECV wheelchair or stroller
Alcoholic beverages
Weapons of any kind
Folding chairs
Glass containers (excluding baby food jars and perfume bottles)
Pets (unless they are service animals)
In Disney's Animal Kingdom® Theme Park (for the safety of the wildlife), balloons, straws and drink lids are not permitted.​

I think the ongoing confusion about this is this part:

coolers, or backpacks with or without wheels larger than 24" long x 15" wide x 18" high (coolers required for medication may be stored in a locker or at Guest Relations)​

All they are saying is that if you have a cooler (or backpack!) that is larger than 24x15x18 (locker size) you can only bring it in if it's for medical use.
Smaller softside coolers (and of course backpacks) are allowed. Just don't put a six pack of cold beer inside!

 

[lwartberg]

the double cheeseburger idea kills me!!

I love saving money, and I'm going to do it, just to say I did!! You are my kind of people!!

I have just joined this board hand have learned soooo much already!

Thanks for all the great ideas!!!

 

[fakereadhed]

People who dislike the taste of Disney water = WUSSIES!

I don't think it's that bad either. Maybe...
People who don't mind the taste of the water=people that have worse water at home. I think we fall into that category!

 

[antkim]

Here's my best tip for souvenirs: pressed pennies! When my girls were younger we bought the pressed pennies books (less than $10 each) and spent the entire vacation filling them with pennies. I took along rolls of quarters and shiny new pennies and kept them in baggies in the fanny pack. The pennies reminded them of favorite rides and shows, and they had a blast searching out their favorite characters. We took along a list printed off the internet with most of the locations, and it felt like a big scavenger hunt. The whole kit and kaboodle cost less than $30 per child.

THIS IS A GREAT IDEA!!!! My son LOVES pressed pennies and I just told him this idea and he is VERY excited! Can you tell me where you bought the book and also where I can get a list of the locations? Sounds like a great scavenger hunt!

 

[RllngRckBrw]

My fav is using the snack from our DDP for breakfast. I never eat more than a pastry or some cereal anyway. (P.S. you can get a pint of milk with your cereal and have it count as 1 snack...or at least you could in May, I dunno if that will change in '08)

 

[lwartberg]

Bump