Budget tips, please

[alexbigday]

Our first visit will be Jan.
What kinds of tips can you offer to help us not ruin the bank? We plan on staying in a hotel with a fridge, helping us out with meals when we are there, but what about while on site? Can you bring in water bottles?
What tips/stratgies do you use?
thanks

 

[Philadisney]

you can definitely bring your own water and snacks to the parks.

 

[Bob P]

Hi,

Have you checked this website?

http://www.mousesavers.com/wdw.html

There are pages and pages of tips on how to save money on your Disney trip.

Have fun!

Bob

 

[WIcruizer]

I'll just add that no matter what you read and plan for, there are opportunities to spend money every second of your day. Either bring more money than you planned, or be prepared to say "no" constantly.

 

[staci]

idk how old your kids are, but we took in those 100 calorie pack snack bags for ds to eat in between meals.

If you are eating a sitdown restuarant in wdw, do it at lunch not dinner as it is cheaper,

bring your own water bottles with you, bring some little single serving crystal light powder if your children will want something with flavor, they can just fill up the water bottle an shake in the mix.

avoid the giftshops as much as possible! in many cases you will be forced into one; have a plan set up in advance. A certian amount for each kid for the trip to spend, or a no souvineers tell the last day... etc. if they know what to expect going into the parks they will be less likely to expect differently.

take your own glowsticks for night parades. we found some at dollar store and i know you can get them on ebay. we got 10 bracelets for $1, and ds had so much fun he didnt even ask for the 15$ light toys there.

bring your own stroller if you need one, that will save alot of money

bring some $1 ponchos from walmart that way you dont have to buy them there.

hope that helps

 

[GPALANGE]

We just got back a few weeks ago from our very first trip to Disney World. We have 3 kids, 9, 7 and 5. I started reading the dis about 6 mos before my trip and learned so much that's the biggest tip I have. Second I bought everything from home at the disney store or other places before we went, on clearance. You read on here what people do there and try to get as much as you can before you leave. I got the light up spinny toys from the Disney store for 5.99 and pulled them out of my bag one night for the kids at a parade. They had no idea if I bought the items at Disney or at home, and anyway they wouldn't care, they were just glad they had them. I got pins for them to trade on clearance at Disney.com sets of 5 or 6 for 6.99, one pin usually costs that. Oh and we had the Disney Visa that we charged everything on and had reward $$'s that we used there for the kids to buy souveniours on their last day. We booked our trip thru AAA stayed on site had the dinning plan and had our trip all payed for 45 days before we went. We didn't need any money down there at all, had our reward $$'s and even came home with $40 leftover on my card. Oh and read about the pressed pennies and bring quarters and pennies for that, my kids loved those. Have a great time!!

 

[brymolmom]

I wouldn't just bring water to the parks - I would bring a lunch (or dinner) of sandwiches, fruit, and any other 'treats' that our family likes. Put it all plus drinks and water into a soft-sided cooler and buy a locker at the front of the park. Then find a nice spot to sit down for your meal.

Personally, I think you can get just as much Disney 'experience' by having one meal a day at the parks (a couple 'special' ones and the rest more reasonable), and I liked the flexibility of having a picnic meal -- eat whenever you want with no reservations or worry about lines. You could eat your lunch in a restaurant and do the picnic for dinner - lunches are less expensive.

I think this is where you'll find your biggest savings - food is expensive when buying for a family and eating out all the time - even more so at Disney parks.

Other than that - there are a LOT of very inexpensive reasonable hotels offsite - many involve some sort of breakfast. Eating breakfast at your hotel is often more efficient and quicker (to get to the parks at opening) and can save huge. So don't forget to make sure you have a frig AND possibly weigh in the price of a place with free breakfast.

Most of all - HAVE a blast!