money saving tips

[littlelambie]

My dh, and I are thinking about taking our 3 yr. old ds to WDW in Nov. We will be staying on site, and teh flight is already taken care of because dh won the tickets. I am looking for any tips on how to save money while you are there. I know this is a panel of experts, and I am looking forward to your responses!!

 

[mom of five]

Eat breakfast in your room.

Walk quickly through the exits (gift shops) of rides.

Buy small disney trinkets and glow necklaces at home (Walmart,Big lots, target) hide them in backpack at park and surprise kid right BEFORE they start asking for the expensive stuff at the park.

 

[tigger12jb]

Ing direct offers a free $25 when you open up an account with them through a referal link, you only have to deposit a minimum of $1.00 and they will give you $25. You'll have access to the money in 30 days and they will give you referals to send out to whomever you want to set up accounts and you can get an extra $10 put into your account when someone signs up for one.

If you are interested you can pm any of us here that have ing accounts and we will send you an email. great way to make easy money

 

[HANDYMOM]

Try to make your larger meals at breakfast and lunch (including character meals) These are typically cheaper than dinner. THe Unofficial Guide Book has some really good tips like which counter service restaurants offer meals big enough to share, when to order a dbl cheesburger meal and a bun on the side for an additional .60 etc.

 

[StinkerbellsMom]

We used the grocery stop with our car service to buy the 'heavy stuff' ... water bottles, juice boxes, and other things like bread, jelly, chips. From home, we had a small suitcase filled with instant oatmeal, granola bars, microwave popcorn and all kinds of snacks. We popped the popcorn before we left and used ziploc bags or other things to divide it amongst our three kiddos. We always had snacks on hand and we did stop and have those awesome mickey ice cream bars, and other treats, but this helped us immensely! It was also great to slip into the food court and just toast our own bread and make our own oatmeal (since only one kiddo eats it, it saved us to make a small 'packet' of it instead of buying a HUGE bowl of it). The water was a big $$$ saver. We got a styrofoam cooler at the supermarket and just loaded it up each day with fresh ice and kept capri sun juices and water bottles on ice ... then at the parks you can get cups of ice (free of charge) just about anywhere. We also did the whole double burger purchase with an extra bun for our girls and it worked out phenomenally!!! And we also brought some trinkets from home as surprise 'arrival gifts' from "THE MOUSE" himself. My girls have grown accustomed to this little tradition and I LOVE sneaking ahead to the room to leave these things there! I found some great Disney Easter themed things and they were so happy with it all!!! We also rolled up all the change we had and converted them to Disney Dollars before we left -- a NICE hunk of change that ended up being split btwn all 3 of them and they each came home with money left over!!! Good luck to you ... have a BLAST!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[shelly3girls]

Check out the budget board, there are many great ideas over there. The biggest one is keep checking mousesavers for codes to get a discount on your hotel stay.

 

[Miniefan]

When we went in the end of March, we ate breakfast in the room, fruit, granola bars, cereal, snacks and definitely water, but the big question that I had the whole time during our stay was this: Disney says that no outside food is to be brought in and they have people checking bags, so why are there so many people in the parks eating chips, sandwiches, drinks, ect, that are obviously brought from the outside it didn't add up then and it still doesn't make sense?!? It was my understanding that the only thing Disney allows from the outside is bottled water, which you absolutley must bring, because the water in Orlando tasted horrible!! I also suggest ordering the kids meals, often it is the same amount, at Pizzafari in the Animal Kingdom, the kids meal comes with an individual pizza, small bag of chips, and small drink. the Pizza is the same size as the one you can order for adults. Check around at the counter service restaurants, because you can save money with the kids meal if you do not have a huge appetite.
Have fun and Enjoy!

 

[NotUrsula]

During bag checks, Disney is looking for weapons, glass containers, and alcohol; they really don't care that much about small amounts of outside food. (Though it is polite not to take up table space at a restaurant unless you have actually purchased food there.)

Bottled water isn't absolutely necessary. A $7 Brita or Culligan filter bottle is quite effective at removing the taste and odor from tap water, and can be used many times and for several people. (We always use a single Brita to filter the kids water, just by squirting it from the Brita into the sippies.)

I agree that the Budget Board is really the best place to get this question answered.

 

[3PRINCESSMOM]

I certainly don't recommend packing the full size coleman cooler, but beverages (water for adults and big kids, juice boxes for the babies) and a few snacks (fresh fruit, granola bars, or chips) aren't what the bag checks are trying to keep out. In all honesty bringing those snacks in doesn't save me money. Rather it provides me the opportunity to allocate that food money differently. If I don't have to stop and buy sodas and popcorn every afternoon, then I can have nice, relaxing sit-down meals rather than having to scrimp and do only counter service. Believe me Disney is getting the same $$$ from this family. Our bottomline has to be what it has to be, but our vacation experience can depend on being reasonable and making compromises. I consider my fellow Diser's, not to mention many guide book authors, and other published WDW experts to be pretty ethical, and nearly all advice-givers make suggestions regarding "snacks," both in resort rooms and the parks. Of course we will always have those who take this too far, but for the most part rational thought and reasoning is applied by guests with snacks.

I am not looking for a debate here, or trying to be on a "soap box" preaching, but I do feel strongly that for the most part, snacks are not an issue. That's my .02!

 

[whozit]

If it is still being offered, the child’s meal deal at AK is a good deal. It is available at all counter service restaurants in AK and for $5.99, you get a child's entree (including small soda, I think) and then vouchers to use (now or later, at AK only (at counter service or a cart) for an ice cream and a bottled water or soda). There is also an adult's meal deal (still get the ice cream and bottled drink voucher)....it costs quite a bit more (I can't remember, $10.99-$12.99)....but it is not a bad deal. At the Flame Tree BBQ, the children's entrees available on the deal were PB&J, chicken nuggets (I think), and maybe one other thing. With the adult meal deal, you can get any adult entree....my niece likes ribs, so we got the rack of BBQ ribs, it also came with baked beans, cole slaw (maybe a roll?) and a BIG cup of soda (probably 20 oz). We split that meal for lunch and it was more than enough, and we weren't hungry for dinner (although my niece did use the voucher to get an ice cream bar just after the parade), and I used the voucher for a soda.