Give Me Your Best Disney Budget Tips!

[bigeyedfish]

We are planning our first (and likely only) trip to WDW March 2018. We will be splurging and staying Deluxe while there, but it is a stretch of the budget for certain. What are your best money saving tips for Disney?

I set up a Disney Vacation Account to take advantage of the $20 GC for every $1000 spent. I convert Target GCs earned from shopping into Disney GCs. I also know you can purchase discounted Disney GCs at Sam's/BJs. I cashed in all of my Disney Movie Rewards points for GCs (close to $100 on the way!).

How do you get the best Room discount? Are there any other tips or tricks you can offer? I am not interested in signing up for credit cards. TY so much!

 

[CalDisneyMomof2]

We are planning our first (and likely only) trip to WDW March 2018. We will be splurging and staying Deluxe while there, but it is a stretch of the budget for certain. What are your best money saving tips for Disney?

I set up a Disney Vacation Account to take advantage of the $20 GC for every $1000 spent. I convert Target GCs earned from shopping into Disney GCs. I also know you can purchase discounted Disney GCs at Sam's/BJs. I cashed in all of my Disney Movie Rewards points for GCs (close to $100 on the way!).

How do you get the best Room discount? Are there any other tips or tricks you can offer? I am not interested in signing up for credit cards. TY so much!

Just so you know, you must pay off your trip prior to 12/31/2017 to receive any bonus gift cards from the DVA. DVA's bonus program is set to expire the end of this year.

 

[loves to dive]

For room discounts I do a number of things. First I have an AP so I check the WDW site for AP discounts and for general discounts. If there is a general discount being offered, I check Orbitz to see if they are offering any discounts, they almost always run a 10 or 15% discount code which you can apply on top of the general discount if there are any available on their site. You do have to pay the entire amount up front doing this and for most resorts there is a $25 cancellation fee so I always factor that in just in case I need to cancel. Orbitz also offers Orbitz bucks so if I book a split stay, I book the most expensive leg first, thus earning the most amount of bucks and then apply those to the least expensive leg. I also check the Swan/Dolphin. They aren't always less when you factor in their resort fee and parking fee since we drive down or lack of Disney transportation from the airport if you fly, but more often than not lately, I've found them less than the Epcot deluxe resorts (which is where I always stay). You also get SPG points with them, so if you stay at other SPG hotels, your points can add up (Sheraton and Weston).

Even after I have booked a resort I continue to check the above for prices right up until my cancellation date, I've been known to change a reservation with Swan/Dolphin 3 times before a trip because they come out with better discounts.

While I don't do it to save money, I usually get a kid's meal for breakfast if I want a bigger breakfast and sometimes get one for lunch at the QS just because I can't normally eat the entire amount of an adult's meal. Otherwise, breakfast for me is a cup of coffee from the room and a muffin, which sometimes is even shared with my son since he's not a big breakfast eater and they are huge. Since I don't drink anything other than water, coffee or refreshing adult beverages, I automatically save money there since I get the free water at QS locations in the parks and Swan/Dolphin give you a bottle of water free per day. For supper at TS restaurants, more often than not I get an appetizer or two instead of an entre, again not to save money but because I'm not a big meal eater. We rarely buy snacks in the parks, again not a money saving issue with me but just because we rarely snack between meals. Sometimes, according to what time of day it is, my son (grown) and I will share an appetizer and entre at a TS restaurant. That might happen if we are having what we call lupper, a late lunch early supper, then we just grab something lite at a QS later in the evening.

 

[dolewhipdreams]

If you're looking for a room-only discount then you'll want to keep a watch starting probably around September for them to announce some Spring discounts.

Another good option since you're already going deluxe is to look into renting DVC points. Have you explore this already? It's a great way to spend money. For example, if you are staying 6 nights at the Contemporary in the Bay Lake Tower with a lake view room in mid-March, the rack rate from Disney is $4,078. Adding a 35% discount (usually 30-35% on deluxe RO discounts), it's $2,644. If you rent from DVC Rental Store for a studio in the BLT lake view, it comes out to be $2,322. That's a few hundred dollars savings and it's just one example. And if your family is large enough that you would need more than one room, then it may be an even better deal since you can rent a 1 or 2 bedroom villa, as suits your needs. There are a few different certified websites that rent DVC points, as well as members here on the boards who will do it on a person-to-person level.

Then that frees you up to look for discounted park tickets. Check out Undercover Tourist or Park Savers for some good deals. Tom Bricker at the Disney Tourist Blog has a great post about different discount options here: http://www.disneytouristblog.com/discount-disney-tickets/

 

[Marionnette]

How do you get the best Room discount? Are there any other tips or tricks you can offer? I am not interested in signing up for credit cards. TY so much!

Best chances of getting a jump on room discounts is to follow the Codes & Rates subforum on the Resorts forum. Be ready to make your reservation online AND on the phone as soon as the discount offer comes out. The website always seems to crash on the first day of a discount and the phone lines can get jammed with 1-hour+ waits. However, by using both you should be able to secure a reservation one way of the other.

If you're set on staying in a Deluxe Resort, you might want to consider renting a DVC reservation, either directly thru a DVC member or by using one of the rental agencies as a middle man. You would not be able to use Disney GCs or the DVA funds to pay for it but the cost could be considerably less than what it would cost to book a regular hotel room with Disney.

Buy your tickets from one of the authorized ticket sellers like Undercover Tourist or Parksavers. Again, you would not be able to use the DVA or Disney GCs to pay for them but the savings can be worth it.

Unfortunately, most of my other cost-saving measures are tied to DVC ownership (prepaid for my room a long time ago), having an AP (lower cost per day of admission, dining and merchandise discounts), credit card rewards (free airfare and rental cars) and working online rewards programs for Target GCs (convert them to Disney GCs to pay my DVC dues and for the AP).

 

[Cbtexan04]

Just so you know, you must pay off your trip prior to 12/31/2017 to receive any bonus gift cards from the DVA. DVA's bonus program is set to expire the end of this year.

WHAAAAAAAT! Did not know this? Any word on whether they will renew it?

 

[Marionnette]

WHAAAAAAAT! Did not know this? Any word on whether they will renew it?

The exact wording on the website:

Disney Vacation Account Bonus Program

What is the Bonus Program?
You'll be eligible for a $20 Disney Gift Card for every $1000 you spend on qualified vacation purchases with your Disney Vacation Account prior to December 31, 2017 (date subject to extension), up to a total maximum of $500 in Disney Gift Card(s) per household. Your Disney Vacation Account must be active for a minimum of 120 days at the time of spending in order to receive this bonus. All accounts registered to the same address are considered part of the same household.

Qualified vacation purchases include vacation packages for the Walt Disney World Resort or the Disneyland Resort, theme park tickets, room stays, cruise fare, and vacations by Adventures By Disney. Purchases of Disney Gift Cards are not qualified vacation purchases for purposes of this Bonus Program.

Request your Disney Gift Card(s) 4 to 6 weeks in advance of your vacation date to allow time for delivery to your mailing address.​

Your guess as to whether it will actually be extended is as good as anyone else's. But as of today, the bonus program is ending at the end of this year.

 

[bigeyedfish]

I knew the bonus program was ending because I made sure to read all the fine print. I didn't think you had to have the entire trip paid for, though. Isn't it just whatever you have paid toward your vacation at that point earns the $20/$1000? So if I have $4K paid then I would receive $80 in GCs???

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

I knew the bonus program was ending because I made sure to read all the fine print. I didn't think you had to have the entire trip paid for, though. Isn't it just whatever you have paid toward your vacation at that point earns the $20/$1000? So if I have $4K paid then I would receive $80 in GCs???

Yes, this is correct. Whatever you have paid from your DVA before the end of the year is what you will earn in GCs. So if you owe $5k on your vacation, but pay off $4k of it before the end of the year, then you would earn $80 in GCs and still have $1k due by your final payment date. Also remember, with DVA, you only earn based on each $1k spent, so if you vacation costs $4.5k, will only get $80 in GCs even if you pay everything through DVA.

 

[a742246]

If you are flying into MCO use Magical Express. Flying on Tuesday's, the airfare is usually much lower (25-50% lower). We tend to fly Tuesday to Tuesday.

 

[loves to dive]

As far as renting points goes, know you normally have to try this at least 7 months in advance and you normally have to pay up front with no refund if you want to cancel. It's great if it works out for you but just be aware it's not as easy as renting a room.

 

[kydisneyfans]

I concur with the others that renting DVC points is better and cheaper than the deluxe option, unless you want the room cleaned daily.
We also use UT or PS for park tickets. We also plan trips 11 months apart to make buying an AP a cheaper option.

Everything else is credit card rewards, airlines miles, Disney gift cards at Kroger to save on fuel type of discounts. It makes Disney one of the cheaper options for vacations.

 

[LovesTimone]

While staying deluxe is nice, its is also costly. I agree with some of the PP that renting points for a DVC might be the way to go .

DH and I have stayed deluxe a few times, but only for super special occasions, honeymoon, anniversaries, a special celebration and only for a long weekend. While really nice and enjoyable. We prefer to stay in a moderate, or a family suite (AOA), depending on who is with us. The cost factor is something I just can't ignore. Saving a couple of hundred dollars a day or more... for us is the way to go. For instance - AKL is 583.00 a night, standard room - which means looking at the parking lot or roof line it goes up in price from there if you want a savanna view, AOA family suite is 412.00 for a lot more space, 2 bathrooms, and 2 TV's which is nice if you have kiddos with you and some privacy, or POR which is 250.00 standard view, so if you are coming for a 6 or 7 night stay that's a lot of money that could be spend on other things, like a dessert party, or BBB or Pirates makeover for the kids, a fancy meal for mom and dad... or adding PH to the tickets. For DH and I we use the resort room to sleep and shower. We prefer to have the money to enjoy some extras when dinning, or shopping.

If flying use DME to and from the airport.

You can use Uber to get around if you want a run to the grocery store, Wal-Mart or one of the outlet malls, When my friends come they always arrive really early like around 8 or 9, they stow there luggage at bag check and grab Uber and head to the outlet mall at the end of I-drive, do some shopping, and there is a Publix within walking distance right outside of the mall and they grab some stuff for the room, and Uber back, hit the pool and they early to bed this works for them.

Grocery delivery - for breakfast items, water and snacks

You might get lucky and free dinning might be offered when you are visiting so keep this is mind, and run the numbers and keep running them.

Think outside of the box for meals...

Sharing is allowed at most restaurants, except of course at buffets, and kids 3 and under can eat off of your plate. As a suggestion you might want to spend some time checking out the menus to see what is available and easily sharable.

We love to do appetizers for meals, we would get a couple of appetizers sometimes we would get one or two side salads to go along with the appetizers if we were really hungry. There are some really big appetizer and most are really plentiful. Then hit somewhere later on for dessert.

We like to eat around the world showcase in Epcot, sharing everything as we went around.

Having breakfast in room is a great way to save money and time in the mornings, and actually get some food into your kiddos.

Bring snacks and easy breakfast items with you for the room.

We always share snacks, and this way we can try more.

Check out the Landrys club ( Rainforest, T-REX, Yak and Yeti on Disney property) ... It's 25.00 to sign up, but they give you 25 back and also if its someone's ( Adult) birthday the month your visiting and they are the card holder you get another 25.00, You have time to start saving points now. Check out and see what is in your area.

 

[kymom99]

Anytime I fly anywhere anymore, if I can get to a store, I buy a large foam cooler. The rooms have small fridges. Having a cooler allows you to keep lots of stuff cold. Our first trip was to a value resort and we drove down. Back then they had no fridges. We had a big cooler from home that made it possible to have lots of stuff on hand. The next year we flew and didn't have a cooler. It was a pain. We were at the mercy of the food court for everything. Ouch.

However you do it, try to have some food on hand. It will save time and money.

 

[monorailsilver]

We stay deluxe but do so on a budget.

I don't do the dining plan, we can eat cheaper.

We do buy refillable mugs and use them on our pool days but on our park days we just drink water. It ends up saving a lot of money. We have the thermos refillable mugs and the water and ice last even in the hot summer sun. We buy/ship water and carry a few with us to the park to refill.

We do breakfast in our room-cereal, pop tarts, bagels, muffins.

I bring Mac and cheese cups for my dtrs for lunch on pool days.

 

[Nick6300]

Black Friday target offers 10% off target gcards up to $300 per. You can then buy disney cards with them, effectively 12.65% off w/ my boa travel rewards card. Bought several discounted Best Buy cards on eBay for about 15%-25% off and turned around and bought Disney gift cards. Today there were $150 and $200 Best Buy cards auctions that finished at $117, $160. can do this for other retailers but bbuy are often cheaper than Walmart, target, meijer, etc. can use discounted Walmart cards for sams 5% off SWA or Disney, $100 for $120 landrys, occasionally have $75 Starbucks for $65. Doing the Landrys club this yr. I bought a rainforest g card 32% off on eBay.

Using old park ticket that was much cheaper than todays prices (but now tickets expire), park savers for the other 8 day hopper+. We have other old park tickets, knowing prices increase. Hotel was room only 25% off pin and completely paid by a card spending bonus (value resort), plus half airfare which was only about $100 Ea way - value season aug/sept. Rest of airfare used discounted SWA gift cards.

Our keen waterproof sandals were bought at big discounts online. Warm weather clothes were bought with 15% off Kohl's cards bought on eBay/ combined with 20% off coupons and sales. Although sams has decent swim shorts for $15.

Fee dining plan is fun but a lot of food, and cheaper for us to get the room only discount. We bring bfast foods, snacks, Gatorade in our free checked bags. We take a water bottle, ask for free ice waters at qs. The garden grocers are expensive it's cheaper to uber to store for sandwich stuff but I think we're buying QS kids meals, QS with toppings bar, or splitting qs entrees this trip, with TS (splitting appetizers) sprinkled in using the discounted Disney gcards. They have the discounted disney springs gift cards going right now but we just buy our ultra cheap Disney shirts and merchandise at Kissimmee discount stores or the Kissimmee Walmart.

 

[rentayenta]

We share meals and bring our own water bottles into the parks. We have saved so much over the years doing this.

 

[LovesTimone]

Anytime I fly anywhere anymore, if I can get to a store, I buy a large foam cooler. The rooms have small fridges. Having a cooler allows you to keep lots of stuff cold. Our first trip was to a value resort and we drove down. Back then they had no fridges. We had a big cooler from home that made it possible to have lots of stuff on hand. The next year we flew and didn't have a cooler. It was a pain. We were at the mercy of the food court for everything. Ouch.

However you do it, try to have some food on hand. It will save time and money.

We lived out of state for several years, when we would come to see Mickey and the gang we would either rent a car, or private car with one stop. We used DME a couple of times and DH and 1 DD would Uber over to Wal-Mart to get our stuff for the week, while I got us settled in to the room so we could start our time with Mickey and the Gang.. So buying a foam cooler was the way to go. We would also bring a soft sided collapsible small cooler for the pool. At the end of our trip we would give the foam cooler away to some other family, Once a family was just arriving, and we were leaving the next day, they were in the room next to us. I saw a Minnie on the ground next to the car we saw them get out of, so I head back to the room to deliver Minnie to them. I knocked on the door but they did not answer, so I ran in our room to grab something I forgot and to grab a paper to tell them we found the Minnie, when I head back out they were coming out of the room, and I asked did you drop a Minnie the mom was like yes... I said I found it, back in the room I went, they saw the cooler through the door and wanted to know if I bought at the resort. So the next morning, My DH saw the dad out smoking and said hey, would you like our cooler, he was like sure..oh that's would be so great... we sure could use it. I had already taken out what we needed for the travel day putting it in our smaller cooler for the car. So we gave them the cooler with a couple bottles of water and juice boxes... We were headed out to have breakfast with Mickey and the gang before heading to the airport. The mom came running out to hug us, and say thanks... so sweet of her. So we started just giving it away, each time. Telling them to pass it on when they were done... I wonder how many families the coolers went through before they were unusable??