Can you add to these budget tips?

[kam502]

Here are some tips I've gathered and will try to use on my trip with my 4 kids next week. We are def. on a budget.

1. eat breakfast in the room
2. try to eat your big meal as lunch or have one big meal at some point and try to snack around that
3. bring some snacks from home
4. buy the big drink mugs - is this cost efficient? For 5? do they take hot and cold drinks? I'm a big coffee drinker. Can I fill one up with relative ease in the morning? (Port Orleans Riverside) How about for the kids. Do they have tops? Can you bring them into the parks?
5. Souveniers - no budgt tips come to mind (aahh!)
6. Do the park activated hand held games really save sanity while waiting etc?

any other tips?
Kris

 

[patman]

A soft side cooler is a must, buy some rubbermaid wide mouth sip bottles fill them with ice and Bottled water and save $15 a day.
capri sun coolers are in foil put them in there also. Buy the super size cokes in the parks and split them up. Buy kids meals esp chicken strips and Pizza you get almost the same amount for 1/2 the price. I don't stay on site as I drive down, and i am not one to wait on a bus during vacation. But does Disney allow meal delivery to the hotels?

 

[jennymouse]

Before you spend the almost $10 (not $5) for the refillable mugs, wait and see how close you are to the foodcourt to use them. Last year, I didn't feel we got our moneys worth out of ours because we were too far away and too tired after walking the parks all day to get them filled. Some folks swear by them though.

Instead of the mugs, you could bring your own coffee from home and get/use a coffee maker from housekeeping and make your own the way you like it. Same goes for other drinks too. You could bring your own and even a plastic mug from home.

If your kids are light eaters, have them split meals.

 

[jgates]

If you have vehicle access, go to the Outlet Mall by the Marriott Village (just NE of Hotel Plaza Blvd- the Character Premear Outlet had some really great deals when we were there last. If I had gone there first I would have NOT purchased 3 or 4 of the shirts I did in the parks and would have saved a bunch.

 

[tink2dw]

Definately utilize the Outlet Malls for Souveniers!! Disney shirts $4.99[same as seen in the parks], Disney Pins $1.99, Mickey Earings $2.99, AK tin/with and Mickey Shirts $11.99.

We were able to buy what we wanted at 1/4 of reg. price.
We shopped at

Belz Factory Outlet World
5401 West Oakridge Road
(I-4 Exit 30A)
Phone: 407-352-9611

and

Lake Buena Vista Factory Stores
State Road 535
Near Walt Disney World Resort

and this is a great place to get a special toy.

FAO Schwartz,
Pointe Orlando
8896 Republic Drive
(on International Drive near the Convention Center)
Phone: 407-248-2838

 

[bianca]

We tried a new approach to the souvenir budget on our last trip in April. We had 5 kids with us, and you all know how those little food kiosks/carts can chew up not only a lot of money but a lot of time ...... if every person chooses something different as you are walking along, you would spend all of your park time getting snacks. Anyway, we gave each kid $4 at the beginning of each day in the parks (we had pre-packaged envelopes of 20 one-dollar bills). This $4 (we chose $4 only because almost all of the cart stuff is under this price) was to do whatever they wanted to .... buy off the snack carts or save for a larger souvenir at the end of the trip. We were totally blown away with the frugality of our crew! All of a sudden, all those snacks that they could not seem to live without on prior trips became non-existent. They all made sure to pack their own snacks and bottled water everyday in their backpacks ....... who knew they could be so responsible? They all saved their money and bought larger souvenirs or pocketed they money and we actually got off cheaper than we would have otherwise. We are definitely using this method on our next trip in November!

 

[bwvmary]

I was going to suggest exactly Bianca's idea. I can't believe how much further $5/child goes when I give it to them at the beginning of the day and let them spend it on whatever they want. All of my kids save for the end of the vacation "big" souvenir, and I don't have to deal with melting Mickey ice creams and requests for snacks from every cart we pass. They were great about packing the snacks from the room in their fanny packs and bringing store bought water bottles along. I didn't even have to argue about not buying those ridiculous water fans. It's the best way to go!

Have fun. I wish we were leaving next week, too!

 

[SandraC]

FOOD SAVINGS 1.2.3.

1) Buy child servings when you can. On three different nights we went to Epcot for dinner ~ we called it EATING OUR WAY AROUND THE WORLD, World Showcase, that is. We went to several countries and bought a childs meal and/or a side order. We all got to pick something and we shared! It was amazing! DH loved Mexico, DD loved UK and China and I just adored Japan ~ we ate at all the countries over our trips! China, giant bowl of rice $1.50! Most kids meals about under $4.00. It was great fun and very tasty!

2) To budget our food, I went to www.wdwig.com menus and poured over them. It was a fun way to budget the food. I made a chart of where we would be just about every day and looked for the restaurants we might eat in. I was $50 under my food budget when we came home!

3) We are a family of four, but ds is 2 and too young for coffee or pop, so we don't buy resort mugs for him. April 2001 trip at CBR we only bought 2 mugs for 3 of us to share. And the same in April 2002 at CSR. We only ever needed two mugs. We would get coffee in the morning and at night for dh and myself and pop during the day for dh and dd, I don't love pop, I'm a water drinker. So we saved $10 each trip on mugs.

OTHER SAVINGS FOR US:

Airfare: seat sale saved us over $400
Car: mousesavers.com code saved us $100
CSR: mousesavers.com code saved us $600
Food: all the above savings, plus the ones you mentioned.
Souveniers: We have everything already LOL!

HAVE FUN! S

 

[kam502]

I'm amazed at this website!! It keeps helping me and steering me in the right direction.

I've decided to buy 2 mugs. One for me with coffee or to share with a kid and the other for my 16 year old who is always thirsty and then he can share also.

I stopped at Costco today and bought a collapsible cooler and granola bars, cereal etc. I'm going to have my 10 year old bring it on as carry on luggage.

I need to pick up some of the Glad disposable ware. That was a tip I picked up somewhere on here for cereal.

AND the best tip i've heard yet is the $4.00 or $5.00 dollar a day for kids to spend on their own. That could really work. Now if you hyad planned snack stops based on where you might be, cost, type of food etc. would this $20.00 a day for the kids be separate from that? I'm so glad I'm getting payed tomorrow before I leave Wednesday!!

Kris

 

[SandraC]

BAGGIES!!!!!!

I brought 3 sizes of baggies and used them for EVERYTHING! Cheerios for my 2 year old, packing juice boxes for they didn't leak, sandwiches ~ never even opened our Glad wrap. I am still using them!

We bought bananas, apples and oranges at Goodings and they were a great treat! Orange the size of my head for a little over a dollar! S

 

[tar heel]

You can take the mugs in the parks, but you don't get them refilled there. Don't buy one for everyone until you see how much you'll use it. We usually just buy two. My dh and I used them a good bit when we were at PO, but my teens prefer milk with food court meals. If your kids are big milk drinkers like mine, here's my tips:

have them to order milk at sit-down restaurants where refills are free. buying 2 or 3 milks at counter service restaurants where it is almost $2 will break you!

if you can, buy a gallon for your cooler in your room.

don't buy it at the PO food court. send one of your older kids to the general store a few yards away where it costs about half as much.

 

[kam502]

Hi all,

Milk is one of my concerns. I have things worked out pretty much but have just gotten to the point where I realize I would like to bring milk, cream cheese or another spread, p-nut butter and mayo. I think I'm going to but the prepacked box milk. My kids don't like the tase of it but I do for coffee. Now I know if I want regular milk, there is a place to go. Is there a general store centrally located? It would be for milk and maybe a few small dairy items.
Thank you
Kris

 

[bianca]

For our crew, the $4 daily was for whatever they wanted to spend it on regardless of where we (as a family) had planned to stop for snacks or meals. They got the money every day before they entered the parks ...... this seemed to make things easier for us. Hope it works for you!

 

[jfis1020]

Souvenier tip............we started two years ago the "Mickey Jar". Each of our three children have their own jar, decorated with name, Mickey, etc. When they complete a task (trash, leaves, sticks, etc.), Mom and/or Dad MIGHT give them some money. You can't ask for money. Begging doesn't get it!!! The amount might depend on task committment, amount of work, etc. Mom typically empties her change from her pockets too in the jars, as she has a habit of sticking$$

When Disney time arrives, Mom and Dad do not buy the souveniers. They do.............Mom does though monitor the jars to try and keep them fairly even.]

Family members give Disney Dollars as gifts. Santa puts them in their stockings. The Easter Bunny gives them in baskets and the Tooth Fairy has been known to have a DD or two!!!


Mom has a habit of sticking money in her pockets instead of a purse, so her change at the end of the day usually goes in someone's jar. She finds them doing something great and hands it over!

 

[SandraC]

We bought pints of milk at the resort shops for about $1.50 ~ ds would go thru one a day. That's not too bad, $1.50 a day. S

 

[Belle27]

We just got back-our taxi driver from the airport told us of a pizzeria with a grocery store-we got a foam cooler for $5, 2 six-packs of bottled water for $5, pizza, other items...and, they delivered free to our Disney hotel. (We had a coupon for free delivery, but they never asked for it.) I'm sure there are others around, but we used and were satisfied with "Famous Pizza @ 2nd City Market", 407-239-4626.

We also took cereal, snack bars, single-serve applesauce & fruit, crackers, etc. I had initially planned on shipping those things from home to our hotel, but decided not to-that worked fine for us.

 

[karebear1]

If you use the styrofaom cooler idea, make sure you put the ice in baggies- otherwise the water will leak outall over- I speak from experience!!!

 

[tar heel]

The general store is Port Orleans' gift shop, located in the same building as the food court and check-in. The milk there is still expensive, but it's a lot better than the food court. I believe you should be able to get coffee creamer with the mug refills any way.

 

[Coll0610]

I guess this is more of a tip on not wasting money than on saving money.

When we buy souveniers, I try to buy things I would buy anyway even if they cost more there. For example, I always get a Disney sweatshirt. I wear sweatshirts all the time and the Disney ones are good quality. We'll usually get a bag or two of Mickey pretzels - something we would eat anyway, just more expensive. (By the way, the pretzels are good for the kids to bring in to school or daycare for a treat when you get back.) We don't usually buy "knick knack" kinds of things because we don't really have any place to display them. DS usually picks out a toy he really wants. So far, he's loved the ones he's chosen and plays with them often. Even though I could probably have bought the Buzz Lightyear he chose last year somewhere else for less money, I consider it a great souvenier because he loves it, uses it all the time and it reminds us all of our trip.