How to save money on a Disney World Trip

[FizzingWhizzbee]

Any tips?

I have bring your breakfast.

 

[drstrange79]

It depends on how much you want to save, For example, if you want to save a little bit what we do is we go to the store and buy groceries. It helps out on those days you want some thing,a snack of something to drink with out paying 1.75 on cans of pop or sandwiches to get you to the next meal.

 

[jemmouse]

For souveneirs, if you have children. Go to the dollar store at home before you leave. Buy those glow in the dark necklaces and give them to the kids at night or during a parade at night. Also goto the Walgreens by Disney and buy the Autograph book and pen there along with lanyards. Maybe goto Walmart and buy a Mickey shirt and surprise the kids at Disney with it, they will have no clue its not from the parks. If you have a car go to town and eat, cheaper than at Disney....Good luck!

 

[noahdove]

You don't say how long you will be there or when you are going. Bring snacks from home. I carry small plastic containers to store left over dessert or fruit from our CS meals. I also bring granola bars and this year I will have them and crackerfuls by Ritz. I too bring crystal light packets and take my refillable mug and ask for ice from a CS in the parks, fill mug with water and add the crystal light, yummy and refreshing. I too buy glow in the dark items from our dollar store and carry them with me for the night time activities. I also wait until the night before we leave to do the final shopping for home. The children know they only have so much money and they can buy whatever they want with their money..none extra from meKeep reading as I know people will give you lots of insight and helpful hints

 

[Hootch]

at Mousesavers.com. One of their objectives is to help people save money.

We take snacks as noted above. We also take our own bottled water. A half liter Ozarka costs about $0.15 from Costco instead of the $2.50 or so in the parks. We drive which makes it easier but there are grocery places that will deliver to the resorts.

We find that at CS locations there are way too many fries. You can ask them to be left off some combos and save a couple of bucks. Water is free from the drink dispensers. Some people have a problem with the taste but Mio or some other flavoring will help that.

Tickets and hotels can be the biggest cost. If you have AAA you can usually get a discount on hotels. It's usually around 10%-15% but varies by resort and season. They also have discounted tickets but I have found Undercover Tourist through the Mousesavers newsletter to be cheaper. There will not be huge savings. If there are, there's a good chance it is a scam or a timeshare. If you go to the Discount board under resorts there are discussions on pins. Getting a pin is not science but there are tips on how set yourself up for one. Last trip we got 20% off a Moderate which beat the 10% we could have had from AAA.

I don't think the meal plans are beneficial if you are really looking to save money. We average about $30 per CS meal last trip. For 2 adults, 1 Disney adult and 1 child, we would have paid over $100 per day - or about 40% more - with the QS plan.

 

[ptsst7]

One nice way to save money is to find free/inexpensive things to do. One thing we did last year that was a blast was going to Fort Wilderness where my DS3 rode a pony. The ride only cost $5, and it was one of the highlights of the trip.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Rent a car and eat offsite really saves a lot of $$$$$. Take our own snacks and drinks into the park.
Ask for ice water at the CS locations - its free even if you don't order food.

 

[pooh2001]

We save for 5 years to have a magical vacation. We are a family of 4, DH, DW, DS age 20 and DD age 17.

We earn Disney Reward $'s with our Chase Disney Visa card.
In 5 years - we earned enough Disney Reward $'s for our food - most of it.

We also do our breakfast in our room. We pack & ship down cereal, granola bars, gummy packs, gum, nuts, dried fruit and what ever else we think of.

We use a ground town car transportation which has a 30 minute food store stop. We buy fruit and water bottles.

We have a great teacher rate at the Dolphin.

We do a small snack breakfast in our room, go to a Park with AM EMH at 8 am and then do a breakfast ADR (like Crystal Palace) at 10:25 am, cheaper than lunch and we get a brunch meal - so only 2 paid meals for the day.
We would do a CS for dinner.

At the Dolphin, we get 20% off any S/D owned restaurant - such as Picabu, where we can get a decent meal for under $30.

We also snagged the pre-order photo pass for $99. 1st time we are going to use photo pass - but from these threads, photo pass seems like a god thing to do. I think we save about $70.

Birnbaum book has some coupons in the back - but 1st see if the coupons are what you will use, before spending money on the book.

Our vacations run about $5000 or a bit less for 10 days of Disney Magic.
We pre-buy our 10 day park hopper passes and buy our airline tickets early from Jet Blue (when they are 1st available) to get the best rate.

The cheapest WDW vacation would be staying at a value, 2 people in the room, free dining, 5 day park pass (no hopping) and points for airline or driving to WDW. Approximate cost, under $1000.

 

[Leslieloody]

We had to take a cab because I left over 3 ounces in our carryon. Turned out to be a great way to buy a case of water and some snacks at Walgreens. They also have lots of trinkets to buy. Like postcards, keychains, tee-shirts at way discounted prices. The cost for the cab was about 35.00. This year we are have a suite at AoA, so we are going to use a grocery service.
When ordering at counter service places, order the kid plate. They don't know who you're buying for. Many adult portions can be divided. Just ask for an extra plate.
Happy trails.

 

[CdnKayDee]

Warning warning! I want to save money just as much as anyone else but Ive read some so called money saving tips before that just make me shake my head.And here is my prime example of the opposite thinking I have. My cousins family went to WDW for 1 week. They went open to close everyday I could hardly believe it. Now I would easly stack their cost per hour in the park against others who spend a lot of time running around saving money.
Ok so Im just saying keep your eye on the ball save money yes but just remember how much the trip is costing anyway and is it worth doing certain things.

 

[Disneyforus]

How you can save money kind of depends on your family size, flying or driving, what time of the year you go, eating preferences etc...

When we go to Disney, our priority is enjoying the parks and having a comfortable place for all 6 of us to sleep. We plan to eat Disney Table Service at least once and the rest will be grilling at the resort or crockpot meals. Meals are more of a necessity than a luxury. We don't tend to eat so much when we are hot anyway.
We love staying onsite and have done it several times, but after staying in a couple offsite Villas there is just nothing that compares to having all that space. If we stayed onsite in a Villa it would be several thousand dollars more...that is just something we can't afford nor would I feel comfortable doing. (Bonnet Creek was 7 minutes from the exit of Epcot to our door when we went last year)

This is our price breakdown for middle of May:
We are 2 adults, 4 kids
Airfare from Mi to Orlando..................1,300 (Planned our vacation dates around good airfare)
Bonnet Creek 2 BR Villa 12 days/11nts..1,060 (Renting through owner off EBAY)
Alamo Mini Van 12 days........................312 (hoping it continues to drop)
5 Day Premium Disney........................1,080 (Tickets thru GirlScout Event at Epcot, saved about $770)
1 day Universal....................................702 (this Kills me, all to see Mr. Potter)
1 day legoland......................................207(buy 1 get 1 free McDonalds code)
Food, mostly in room.............................600

Total................................$5,261 for 12 days, 6 people


The DIS boards have a wealth of information as you may well have already figured out, and no matter what type of vacation you plan it will be a blast!!

 

[plamp]

We save on airfare by booking well in advance and by flying midweek. Tuesdays tend to be least expensive.

We are staying off site for the first time in a long time, in part to save and because we are focusing more on Universal this trip (my family wants to see the new Harry Potter attractions). We booked a 1 BR suite at Caribe Royal for $90/night via mousesavers.com.

For a rental car, the best discount I found this trip was through Costco.

 

[carrie1626]

Do not buy the park hopper option. That will save substantial $ on every ticket you need.
PLENTY of fun can be had doing one park a day

Also, don't buy tickets for the water parks- your resort pool will be adequate for having a great time.

I'm not against either of the above and I actually do both when I visit sometimes.

But if $$ is an issue they are easy to pass on.

 

[tina.tina]

We went for our first family visit last April. Here are some ideas I had for saving money on our next trip. (We thought this would be our only trip & we splurged a little- but we ARE going back!) I think the following things will help us save money next time:

-We did eat breakfast in our room a couple of days. We took cereal and bought a 1/2 gallon of milk in the Pop food court (no fridge) on mornings when we decided to eat in the room. This was a great time saver, too.

-Kids meals are cheap. On most mornings when we did not eat in the room we ate at the Pop food court. Kids' mickey waffle meals are $5 and come with 2 waffles, a piece of bacon, a piece of sausage, applesauce, and milk. I ate the waffles, gave the bacon & sausage to my kids who love it, and kept the applesauce for a snack for the kids later.

-A cinnamon roll or other treat and drink from the Main Street bakery in MK is a pretty good breakfast, too- or a late night snack.

- We didn't really snack between meals except for a couple of Mickey ice creams. We could substitute a couple of snacks for a meal and some of us would probably be happier- like DS who kept wanting popcorn. This would good for snacking around World Showcase, too.

-Portions are huge!!! DH and I split a turkey sandwich from Sunshine Seasons in Epcot and it was plenty of food. I got a steak sandwich at Cosmic Ray's (sort of like philly cheese steak) and it would have fed both of us, too.

-Trails End buffet at Fort Wilderness is one of the cheaper buffets on site and the Campground is a neat place to explore. For free entertainment you could follow this up with the movie and campfire singalong which Chip & Dale attend.

-We loved being on Disney property. We only drove out once when I had my dr call in an rx at a nearby Walgreens. I wouldn't want to leave to search out offsite places to eat. We got a pepperoni pizza for $15 from the Pop food court one evening and ate by the pool. We had brought chips and canned drinks with us so this was a relatively cheap meal.

If I were you, I would look at menus on wdwinfo.com or allears.net and get a general idea of where I would want to eat. Then, you can total up the prices to help you get an idea of your budget needs.

We liked the Disney Dining Plan because most of the food is pre-paid and you don't have to worry when you're there. However, I do think that we could eat for much cheaper.

Right now, I am trying to trim next year's 11 day trip food budget from $1200. We are also driving to Miami & spending some time exploring the Everglades & keys for 3 days before heading to WDW.

 

[Hootch]

a quick note: I read somewhere that the Values will all be getting refrigerators soon.

 

[AnjieNet]

a quick note: I read somewhere that the Values will all be getting refrigerators soon.

Several have them now and all should by the end of April, I believe.

 

[cannonboys]

We just got back and they do have refrigerators and privacy curtains!! BTW, the refrigerators actually kept the milk cold unlike the POR's and AK's.

 

[noahdove]

I just sat and figured out if the dining plan would save me money, yes and no.. depends on what we want to eat and how often. So, once you figure what you need as far as eating, thus saving you money. I will be taking extra snacks for my little granddaughter, as she is a very good eater

 

[Monohydrate1]

Thank you for your information.

 

[Qltrgrl2]

Here are a few more ways to save money:
Bring a Nalgene, or similar water bottle to the parks and you can refill it at no cost at the water fountains.
Have carryon luggage only if you are flying on an airline that charges a baggage fee.
Keep checking in your sort reservation to see if any discounts have come available.
If staying at Disney resort, do not rent a car.....the Magical Express and free transportation helps offset the cost of staying onsite.
Happy Planning!