How to Save Money at WDW

[fbarker]

I saw this on MSN. It is their suggestions on how to save money at WDW. I just wonder what everyone thinks of these ideas. I have my opinions but will reserve them until i see some comments!!
1.. Buy mulit day park hopper passes
2. Get Membership discounts
3. Visit during the low seasons
4. Dont buy souvineers
5. Hold on to your receipts
6. Purchase Disney Dining Plan
7. Dond buy breakfast in the Parks
8. Stay offsite
9. Plan in advance
10. Keep Your change
11. Autographs
12. Bring your own water


http://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/tip...s-AAjlEQi?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=mailsignout#image=2

Ok time for church, i will be back to see responses

 

[cmarsh31]

6 & 8 are a bit of a challenge to accomplish at the same time. Someone let me know when you see the AAA discounts...and the water coolers around the park to fill up at. Oh, and the restaurants in the park to re-fill your mug. It looks like a list of hints made by a person who has never visited WDW.

 

[brnrss34]

Definitely go none peak season, way cheaper. DDP depends on how you eat or where you eat. Disagree on souvenirs kinds of hard not to want something.

 

[Marionnette]

I saw this on MSN. It is their suggestions on how to save money at WDW. I just wonder what everyone thinks of these ideas. I have my opinions but will reserve them until i see some comments!!
1.. Buy mulit day park hopper passes
2. Get Membership discounts
3. Visit during the low seasons
4. Dont buy souvineers
5. Hold on to your receipts
6. Purchase Disney Dining Plan
7. Dond buy breakfast in the Parks
8. Stay offsite
9. Plan in advance
10. Keep Your change
11. Autographs
12. Bring your own water


http://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/tip...s-AAjlEQi?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=mailsignout#image=2

Ok time for church, i will be back to see responses

My thoughts:

1. Buy multi-day park hopper passes: Skip the hopping option and save even more.
   
2. Get Membership discounts: But don't pay to join a group/buy an AP/take out a CC just for the discounts unless the savings far outweigh the cost. I got a chuckle out of the advice to check for AAA and AARP discounts. They don't exist.
   
3. Visit during the low seasons: Parks tend to close earlier, have more rehabs taking place and fewer shows during low seasons. You get less bang for your park ticket bucks during the low season. The only advantage would be lower room prices and bigger package discounts.
   
4. Don't buy souvenirs at Disney: Advice that is very difficult to adhere to. Better to save souvenir shopping until the end of the trip when you have an idea of how much money you have left.
   
5. Hold on to your receipts: Not truly budget-saving unless you have to return/exchange an item due to a defect. Those merchandise discounts that are printed on receipts tend to influence you to stray from the parks and into areas that are designed to separate you from your money.
   
6. Purchase Disney Dining Plan: Absolutely untrue. There are less expensive options for keeping your family fed.
   
7. Don't buy breakfast in the Parks: Only true if you would otherwise eat in your room/condo. Breakfast in the parks is no more expensive than eating at your resort QS or food court in a lot of cases.
   
8. Stay offsite: Sometimes true, not always. Like anything else, you have to evaluate all of your costs including ground transportation, resort fees, parking prices, the need to rent a car, etc.
   
9. Plan in advance: That advice applies to any vacation but making a spreadsheet of anticipated costs? That's a little overboard, IMO.
   
10. Keep Your change: Oooh, the CHANGE JAR!!!!! Now that's innovative! Never heard that one before! This only works if you're paying cash for everything. But as anyone who has done a change jar knows, those nickles and dimes only add up to a very small amount over the course of a week. Saving your change during the trip so that you can spend it on souvenirs at the end of the week is destined to disappoint the kiddies when they learn that their share of the loot comes out to about $3.41
    
11. Autographs (instead of souvenirs): Nothing wrong with collecting autographs and pictures with the characters if that's how your family wants to spend their time. But when it costs over $100 for a single-day ticket, getting photos with Mickey or the princesses instead of taking in the attractions makes for one very pricey autograph book.
    
12. Bring your own water: Better yet, ask for a cup of water at the QS location nearest to you. No need to lug warm water bottles around when ice cold water is available for free just about everywhere.

 

[jsmla]

Mine (especially for repeat visitors) would be:

1. Buy an Annual Pass. These aren't the awesome deal they once were but we had a pattern of purchasing APs for an early-mid June trip and then using them the next year for a late May-early June vacation. It was a money saver over buying two separate 7 day tickets and renewals are at a considerable discount.

We've also had some nice AP discounts on resorts.

Now that it's usually just me I stay off site and save approximately $140 per trip on parking fees.


2. Stay in an offsite condo booked through SkyAuction. $300/week with plenty of room for up to 8 people as well as a full kitchen and laundry.


3. Avoid Disney Dining. We average 2 meals/day at "home" (camper at Ft Wilderness) during our family trips. We tended to save our Disney money for something special like a character meal. Now that I'm on my own I eat at WDW even less often. We always allowed for a few fun treats but I also brought in healthier snacks to ease any sudden hunger pangs.


4. Take advantage of the free iced water at WDW QS. Even cheaper (and more environmentally friendly) than buying the bottled stuff and no need to worry about keeping it cold or lugging it around the park.


5. I'm a huge fan of the off season. Yes the hours are shorter but I felt like when we had to go in the summer we spen that extra time standing in line. I've been (multiple times) in each month of the year and vastly prefer the shorter hours and lower crowds of September and early February.


6. Have a clear plan re the kiddos and spending money. Mine knew exactly how much they had per day. One like to spend it on treats, pressed pennies, etc. The other preferred to save up for something like a Legos Death Star. It was their call but once the money was gone, it was gone.

 

[Bete]

Going and staying onsite during free dining promo is probably the best savings. The more people in your room the better this deal will be. I would even consider staying with another couple. There are other discounts that can help, too.

Staying offsite can be a real drag. You will either have to take offsite resort shuttles to the parks that suck or have a car. If you car it you pay a parking fee each day. I find it tiring at the end of the day to be driving back to an offsite resort. And more than likely you will be in the dark doing so. I really like being able to rest on Disney transportation or cuddle with my love ones or talk about our day without worrying about driving ourselves. Then, you don't make fastpass ressies until the 30 day mark; whereas, staying onsite you get 60 days. Also, staying onsite you get extra magic hours. That's extra park time.

Splitting meals can be a saving technique. Of course, this depends on how hungry you may be.

If you can take doing 12 hour days or more in the park than park hopper passes can pay off. For most people a 6 to 8 hour day is enough and then I would not do park hopper passes. Multi-day passes are a good deal. The more days the better the deal.

Getting free water at quick service is the way to go.

Planning is important. You especially do not want to backtrack in the parks. It's a real time waster.