How Much Do We HAVE to Spend at Disney

[poppinspenguins]

Can you change to to one less day at parks?

What we do for the ddp
1. Save the desserts and bottled drinks we get with the qs meals (usually at resort) use the dessert credits for fruit and pastry. Bottled drinks for milk and oj. We cover our breakfast for the next day with "desserts"

2. Buy the bagged mickey mixes as snacks and throw in bag for later

3. Share a meal or two and supplement with snacks

4. Make one of the table service buffets a early lunch. Get latest breakfast seating ...maybe 10?... fill up and you should be good til dinner

 

[tink9702]

Everyone has already covered how to save money on food. I'd try making some extra money on the side before you go. Here are some ideas:

1. save all your change in a jar
2. join swagbucks, ibotta, or one of the other online apps that can make you money on the side (check out the budget board for more info)
3. sell stuff on facebook groups, craigslist etc. that you don't need/want anymore
4. if the kids are old enough have them mow people's lawns, rake, weed, etc. to earn money for souvenirs
5. be more strict with your actual budget and put aside a couple dollars a week that gets used for Disney

Good luck! you can do this!

 

[Hikergirl]

Also to add on to what tink posted, since you have more than 2 weeks maybe try to cut some budget at home for that time. If you cut $25 from your weekly grocery shopping that will be an extra $50 for your trip.

 

[Tara8595]

It's not hard to not spend at Disney if you plan well and set expectations. Here's what I do to take trips on the cheap, and it's the only way I get to go so often, and it does not diminish the fun we have at all. In fact, it makes me feel empowered that I get to have a blast and spend way less than other people....
1. If you are flying into MCO and renting a car, don't. Take ME and use Disney transportation. Even if you have to get a taxi a couple of times, you usually will come out ahead.
2. Ditch the dining plan - you can eat much cheaper without it and your body will thank you for the lesser calories.
3. Move your hotel reservations if possible to the least expensive on-property option that will fit your family size.
4. Don't eat at table service restaurants, there are plenty of good options for counter service, do your research on menus - you can even get a good steak dinner at Liberty Inn (Epcot Am. Adv.) for $12.
5. If you have a car - go to Kissimmee Walmart and stock up on easily transportable breakfasts (muffins or bagels) and lunch fixins (bread, PB&J), etc. and pack a collapsible cooler to take with you to the parks. If you must have souvenirs, they have a huge Disney section there and we often get really cute adult T-shirts there for $7 or less.
6. Bring a refillable water bottle and take it with you to use in the parks (lots of places have filtered water from drink machines you can use yourself, or just ask). Bring your own singles drink powders from home if you need flavor.
7. Don't shop. Just set the expectation ahead of time and don't go in the stores. If you have to spend something, buy everyone a 'new to you' shirt to wear from Ebay, and you are set for a fraction of the cost.
8. If all else fails, use a credit card. Pay it off later and enjoy yourself. Follow Grandpa George's advice..... "There's plenty of money out there. They print more every day."

 

[DLgal]

Cancel the trip. You can get airfare credits or reschedule the flights to another date by paying a fee. Eat the fees and get a refund for the WDW package and room reservation. If you literally will only have $100 to spend on this trip, you can't afford to go.

 

[poppinspenguins]

Also to add on to what tink posted, since you have more than 2 weeks maybe try to cut some budget at home for that time. If you cut $25 from your weekly grocery shopping that will be an extra $50 for your trip.

I agree. We are actually doing a "pantry week" this week. We have lots of stuff we haven't used yet...my groceries this week was dairy, produce, and meat only. Saving at least 100 this week by cleaning out the pantry! Some of the meals won't "match" lol but that's ok.

 

[mshanson3121]

Okay, my trip is coming up on the 22nd and we've had some unexpected financial issues (our house flooded). We have the regular dining plan for the first 5 days of our trip, and then we're staying at AoA for the last two days with no dining plan. My question is, we're looking at REALLY tight finances during the trip. Like maybe we'll have a hundred dollars to spend outside of money for gas while we're there. I see lots of other people have saved thousands of dollars for their Disney days, and I'm curious - can we spend a week at disney, 5 days on the regular dining plan without having to spend a lot of money? My mom is coming too and she's going to cover tips at the restaurants thankfully (very nice of her).

I'm already looking at avoiding gift shops with the kids and bringing snacks from home. Has anyone else done Disney without spending a lot? Any tips on how to save money in such a short amount of time? Lol. Thank you!!!

That's tight. We bring 500 extra for two people but we do a lot of extra things. Can you delay your trip? Have you considered staying off site?

This ^^. This. $100 is extremely tight, I mean any number of things could come up and that money would be gone. My guess is you'd be far better off financially to stay off site and cook meals. We saved thousands of dollars doing that. If you booked directly through Disney you can get your money back for the meal plan and room, not problem. But if nothing else, I would look at staying at a cheaper hotel, and dropping the dining plan and paying for meals out of pocket.

 

[Amy&Dan]

Cancel the trip. You can get airfare credits or reschedule the flights to another date by paying a fee. Eat the fees and get a refund for the WDW package and room reservation. If you literally will only have $100 to spend on this trip, you can't afford to go.

I have to disagree. If OP was heading to NYC with a hundred bucks to spend I'd say cancel. But she's heading to a trip that is completely paid for. Her meals, hotel and attraction tickets, not to mention transportation once they get there are paid in full. She had an unexpected emergency come up and has to cut the trip budget as far as extras, but still has an all inclusive trip paid off.

Disney trips offer all sorts of ways to spend hundreds, even thousands of dollars above the package price. However, you can go not one cent above your package price if you have a dining plan and have a wonderful time. You can also trim off the fat in the form of extra food, souvenirs, ride and photopass photos, cocktails and a lot of other stuff and still have a wonderful, blow out vacation.

 

[mousefan73]

One more thing. On Mainstreet in MK is that huge sweet/ candy shop. Here you can use snack credits to buy Disney themef sweets, AnnaElsa rice cripsy treats, huge mickey suckers. All wrapped and you can take home. Smaller kids would seenthis as a souveniernshop. Let the kids pick a couple of Mickey snacks tontake home. The value i think was around 4 something per snack. Not sure now

 

[WDmommyof4]

I have not read every response, but I have always ended up spending more at Disney than originally planned. That said, I think you could do it, but you would definitely need to cancel the dining plan. I don't know if anyone mentioned it yet, but tips alone for table service meals would eat up that $100. Without the dining plan doing only counter service and sharing some meals, you could save enough to make it work. Bring your own snacks and get free water in the park.

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

I never realized until now how much Dis'ers hate the dining plan.

It is already paid for. Tips are being covered by someone else.

Why would someone "ditch the dining plan" under those circumstances?

 

[cruisingtwins]

Because it would save money to pay OOP

 

[poppinspenguins]

I never realized until now how much Dis'ers hate the dining plan.

It is already paid for. Tips are being covered by someone else.

Why would someone "ditch the dining plan" under those circumstances?

I don't hate it...I have used a number of times. And in this instance I would probably keep it since it's paid for. And it will be less stress...which im sure op appreciates

But, in general, you can eat for much less without the dining plan. Share meals, kids meals instead of adult, water instead of pop, bring bagels, milk and cereal for breakfast in room etc. So that is good advice for the non ddp days.

Ex. When I don't have the dining plan I usually get a kids meal. It's plenty and less expensive.

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

Because it would save money to pay OOP

Maybe.

Maybe it wouldn't. Did the OP get a deal on the package? Dropping the dining plan might make the room price go up. Were the tickets included as part of the package? Those prices have gone up too.

Maybe the OP calculated what they would normally eat and they ended up saving money by using the plan.

Maybe the dining plan is exactly how that family eats. And, for them, sharing one counter service between 3 people will leave everyone hungry.

The idea has been floated numerous times and the OP has stated that she will check into it.

How many times does it have to be mentioned?

 

[Susan Storm]

I didn't see mention of what type of room at aoa or what the other resort is. I've had an emergency where I called up to get a room while standing on property and the CM was amazing at finding me anyway to save money that I could. Now they aren't going to help you with tricks like bring your own food, especially breakfast or after park snacks but if there is money to be saved on the room, changing resorts, getting a lower cost room they can help.. Worse case they can't save you any money and it was just your time to call..

Is there any extras you can cancel like maybe remove park hoppers or water parks and more from the tickets?


1: free water at counter service locations
2: free over the counter medical supplies (tylenol, asprin, ibuprofin, benedryl, claritin, band aids) at first aid locations (they give you 2 doses)
3: don't use your car if your driving once it's parked to avoid an additional tank fill if it fits into your plans.
4: breakfast is really easy to store in a room, especially with cereal, donuts and similar. Deli meats, tuna, etc for sandwiches also store well. The fridge isn't huge so don't go crazy pre-arrival with shopping. There is a walmart and publix near property if your looking to get anything after arrival and you have a car. google maps is pretty good at helping you find the closest one but publix in celebration is really nice and not that far from aoa.
5: bring a case of water with you. Disney actually sells a case of 24 8oz dasani for $6 in resort shops if you need a case.
6: bring a refillable water bottle and put the free water or water fountain water in it to refill. Get one of those drops you can put into bottled water if you want to not only drink water, they are lower cost.
7: I find counter service if you don't go crazy and smart about what your ordering to be reasonable and some have decent sized portions that an adult + small child can share.

Thanks!! Your tips are really good!! I think I will call and see what I can do. We got base tickets and no water parks. I got some overtime hours from work just a little while ago, so that should help a little bit! Also, I've talked to the kids and they're happy with doing pressed pennies for souvenirs (they love those) and we scrounged up $20. worth of quarters and pennies for that! The food was my main concern, and your tips really help - thanks again!

 

[Susan Storm]

We're a party of 5 and always have credits left over when we're on DDP -- we scramble to use them on our last day. We also usually have leftovers after TS meals that we have packaged up at the end of the meal and eat the next day. If you have leftover credits, maybe you can use them for sandwiches (or something similarly sturdy) to cover some of your meals for the next 2 days.

Oh! Can you get doggy bags at disney restaurants? That would be awesome! I would definitely bring those back to the hotel for meals later!

 

[Nancyg56]

I agree. We are actually doing a "pantry week" this week. We have lots of stuff we haven't used yet...my groceries this week was dairy, produce, and meat only. Saving at least 100 this week by cleaning out the pantry! Some of the meals won't "match" lol but that's ok.

I have to make a point of doing this a few times a year. I forget what gets pushed to the back, so by doing this I am forced to use what I already have.

I never realized until now how much Dis'ers hate the dining plan.

It is already paid for. Tips are being covered by someone else.

Why would someone "ditch the dining plan" under those circumstances?

I think under the circumstances I would not get rid of it. This way the op knows they all have the meals covered, she had already allocated snacks for them, and doesn't need to penny pinch at mealtimes.

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

Oh! Can you get doggy bags at disney restaurants? That would be awesome! I would definitely bring those back to the hotel for meals later!

Yes, you can.

 

[Amy&Dan]

Op's mom is paying the tips.

If she drops the DDP she will pay a penalty as she is under the time when she can make changes without penalty.

She increases the value of her DDP if she uses the credits in a way that leaves her an extra day of having credits once she switches resorts. And if she buys packaged snacks she can use those on her last day after her credits expire.

Can you save money by not doing the DDP. Absolutely! But given that she can stretch them into another day and the penalty for knocking it off, there is probably little to no savings.

 

[Susan Storm]

I haven't seen this mentioned yet, but are you renting a car? Cancel the rental and you've saved that cost plus the cost of gas.

Nope, we're not renting a car this trip (thankfully). I'm driving with two of my children, while DS flies to pick up my stepson and flies with him to Orlando. Then we'll all be driving back home together. Thanks for your input!!