Need Cost Cutting Tips for Oct WDW trip!

[Tiggerlovinggrandma]

DHJ and I are going to WDW in October for 3 full days to celebrate our DD birthday and give our DGS a little time with Mickey Mouse. This year has turned out to be a tough one so far money-wise so we would like to cut cost wherever we can.

We have a 9 hour road trip down and up from NC. We are staying at CB in a value room. We usually do a deluxe dining plan but that's not possible this time around. However we would like to include a character meal for the little guy. We will be taking in MK, AK and either a water park or some relax time at the resort.

Would very much appreciate any and all suggestions on how to cut expenses in EVERY AREA. I'm sure there are others on the dis that might like to know this info too. Thanks in advance!!

 

[NHWX]

I'm sure that you will get similar replies but we just came back from Disney and nearly cut our expected budget by $600. That said, a great deal of our expenses came from food so it may or may not prove to be a savings for you.

Except for our last day, we ate breakfast in our room. (And on our last day, we got only two waffles with berries and the other two people in our family had the usual breakfast in our room.) We took some time on the first afternoon - it was hot and Easter week so the parks were very crowded and dh and I went to Costco and picked up some food. The veggie tray was overkill, the greek yogurt, berries, milk, bagels, etc. were not.

I had brought a bunch of food for the road trip (2 days each way) and for snacks while we were at Disney. We did get our favorite treats at the parks but not as often as we had in the past. (Teenage boys eat a lot, and frequently.)

For the most part we ordered water to drink. At a sit down restaurant, the $2.50/soda plus tax and tip adds up quickly.

I brought the Crystal Light flavor packets and added them to our own water bottles for drinking in the park.

We only had three sit down dinners at Disney, and one was at lunch. They were our favorite restaurants so no one felt like they were missing out.

We used a 20% off coupon that the quick service restaurants were handing out on the receipts when we bought our souvenirs.

Our room, even though it was Easter week, was booked with a discount code.

We didn't buy annual passes which was a change from the past. It felt pretty strange, to tell you the truth. Going at a busy time like Easter, the park hopper option was important. We bought them through Undercover Tourist, using a link from the Mousesavers.com newsletter. We planned our path through the parks using tips from touringplans.com. I used a discount code from the allears newsletter to buy a membership to that site.

Oh, and I have a Disney Visa card so we were able to put some reward dollars towards the lodging fee.

Good luck with your planning!

NHWX

 

[disneylove69]

How about skip the water park and stay at the hotel pool? That would save a few bucks. Eat off property, Don't do park hopper, and do a character breakfast instead of dinner.

 

[DisneyAndRedSox]

My parents now give my DD a Disney gift card for everything- Easter basket, dance recital, birthday, Halloween. I even plan on having the tooth fairy give them when it is time! No candy or crap, just a card and DD loves it! DD went with several different cards on our last trip and I really didn't have to worry about buying her any souveniers. Now that Walgreens sells the cards I am going to push my MIL to buy them for the holidays so we can use them on our Feb WDW/Cruise vacation.

This may not work for you... but I put all my purchases on a Disney Visa and I use the rewards for character meals when we go.

How old is your DGS? My DD is only 4, honestly she still loves the hotel pools so much I am holding off on the water parks for a while. That is a pretty good savings.

If you don't get the hoppers, plan Animal Kingdom on a day that you don't plan on a park in the evening since it closes earlier. Plan something like the pool afterwards.

Once I saw someone recommend on here that there is a Blimpie deli at most of the Hess stations, and got he sandwiches on the way into the park. My parents do this several times a trip at Publix. The get a large sub and it is enough for two people.

As for a character breakfast... once we did Chef Mickeys and we booked the latest possible breakfast time. We had a light snack when we first got up and this ended up being our lunch. Plus the place emptied out and we got a few more visits from the characters.

Does DGS do autographs? I was able to get DD Disney autograph books at Michaels for $1. Just double check it, they also have journals with lined pages. They had cars and Toy Story for the boys.

Remember, you can do food a la carte at counter service! If you say "hold the fries", the meal will be cheaper. My Mom always just gets a sandwich and my Dad gets the whole meal and they just split his fries.

 

[3mickeymom]

Although the meals are fun and a great photo opportunity,they are pricey. There are plenty of opportunities for character interaction throughout the parks. Buy the kids some souvenirs on sale at the Disney store and then surprise them at disney. I bought my son one of those spinning light toys on clearance for $3 and they were a crazy price at the parks.

 

[DaisiLou]

I'm a big fan of the dining plan. There are 4 of us, me, DH, DD (14) and DD (3). I'd say, skip the water park and opt for dining. And can't you visit other resorts and use their pool? I'm not 100% sure about that, but I'm thinking you can.

With the DP, we used all our snack credits for stuff like sodas, or the occasional ice cream in the park...and we had leftovers at the end that we used for snacks on the way back to NC (we live near Raleigh).

I bought pillowcases for the girls to have the characters sign instead of an autograph book, and a laundry marker....lasts longer, something not everyone else has.

Buy glow sticks at the Dollar Tree and take them with you...

Is DGS young enough for a stroller? Take your own, you're driving from NC, so it shouldn't be a problem.

 

[n2mm]

Move to a value resort instead of a moderate resort, that will save you some $$.

 

[MNTwinsMom]

Although the meals are fun and a great photo opportunity,they are pricey. There are plenty of opportunities for character interaction throughout the parks. Buy the kids some souvenirs on sale at the Disney store and then surprise them at disney. I bought my son one of those spinning light toys on clearance for $3 and they were a crazy price at the parks.

Great suggestions from the previous poster.

If you can get to Epcot at rope drop, head to the Character Connection and you'll see the Fab 5 with hardly any waiting. No extra cost and they're in their traditional clothes, not the Chef costumes. Savings $100+ over Chef Mickey's.

We also brought some Disney surprises from home. I made my kids t-shirts with ideas from the Creative DISigns board and made autograph books. This saved us $ on souvenirs.

Rember to bring bottled water from home and small snacks you can bring along to the parks (granola bars, fruit snacks, etc.). This saved us LOTS on our last trip. We still splurged for the special treats like a Mickey Bar, but didn't have to buy something every time someone was hungry.

 

[TheBeadPirate]

Since you have a car check restaurants.com for some deals. The last time I checked they had House of Blues, Outback, and Fridays- all in the DTD area.(Our zip code is 32836- we back up to WDW property) I'd also check the web for any promo codes for them. That'd save a bundle to put towards a character breakfast/lunch.

Also pick up some glow sticks or necklaces at the dollar store for late night in the parks- they have the light up carts everywhere now and they are super pricey!

And depending on age, I'd probably do the pool instead of the waterpark also. Pool hopping is technically not allowed, but that's a whole other kettle of fish on these boards.

There are also some threads over on the DISboutique boards for DIY autograph books- the characters love these! The group we were with had them and the characters all "oohed and ahhed" over them. They were computer printed pages cut and hole punched with a binder ring and a laminated cover. also had a Sharpie attached with a string. Date on the cover would make it a great trip souvie.

Also the kids in our group got brand new boxes of crayons on the way down and were all excited to get popcorn buckets- almost enough to dump the popcorn out!- guess it's a family tradition to get new buckets at WDW for their crayons......

 

[daisy2jae]

leading up to our trips we have a change jar. It helps us put away a little extra to help pay for things. Each week when I go to the bank I get a roll of quarters and dump it in our jar. Then if I write a check I always round up to the nearest dollar x - costs 11.59 I either write it for 12.00 or sometimes 15.00. I put the change back in my jar when I get home. We usually save over the year 700-800 doing this. We find by putting change away we don't spend it. No way am I taking $20 in change out to order pizza but it's easy to take a $20 bill out to order pizza. The ladies at our bank thought we were a little strange at first but last time we were there getting a roll of quarters two ladies admitted they started doing it too. They aren't saving up for disney but they started it for different reasons. Enjoy your trip!!

I enjoy the character meals. My kids really like it. I'd do one if you can budget it but if you need to cut it out thats better than not being able to go.

Have fun!

 

[beansmom]

And can't you visit other resorts and use their pool? I'm not 100% sure about that, but I'm thinking you can.

.

actually, no, you can't. You CAN, if I understand correctly, cross pools at 'sister resorts'...i.e. Port Orleans French Quarter and PO Riverside, All Star Movies/Music/SPorts...but you can't stay at, say, CBR and use the Pool at the Boardwalk.

Just FYI.

 

[Tiggerlovinggrandma]

Thanks so much for all the wonderful replies. The tips are great and I am sure they will help us out alot. I am going to go over each one with DD and DH and then start some serious planning.

 

[brymolmom]

I would skip the DP (sounds like your plan but other pp's have suggested) - since you are driving - a $50 - $75 grocery trip will save you a ton over the DP - especially since you only plan one character meal.

Eat breakfasts in your room, EXCEPT for the character meal - breakfasts are cheapest - so make this a breakfast (even a late breakfast at 11:00 to make it your one big meal for the day).

Bring a soft-sided cooler for the parks. Will dgs be using a stroller? If so - make it as large as will fit under the stroller (and bring your own - too $$$$ to rent if budget is a concern). Fill the cooler with sandwiches, fruit, chips, 'goodies' (chocolate or cookies for my family) and plenty of drinks. You can easily use this loot for snacks and at least lunch or dinner in the parks - then you only have to worry about one other CS meal.

I agree with the drink water with cs meals idea. OR just grab an extra drink out of your cooler.

OK - just realized that I wrote this thinking dgs was 3 (took the 3 some other part of your post) - so not sure what age dgs is. If you do not need/have a stroller - the cooler can go into one of the lockers at the front of the parks.

I would skip the water park - esp. with dgs age and with wanting to keep it as budget as possible, the pool will be a ton of fun without this added expense.

ENJOY!

 

[khassib]

Hi, I read you cannot bring "large coolers". What is "large"? Even softsided ones can get fairly big. A couple of smaller lunchboxes with ice packs would be OK?

Thanks!

 

[Pastamom]

Some of these may be repeats...

Not sure what ages your kids are - but we give our DS's a certain amount of money to spend and they have to provide the rest. We provide extra "jobs" for them to do to earn money. Since this is partly for a b-day (I think) what about Disney gift cards as gifts?

Do you have AAA? If so check them out for discounts.

I bring a box of cereal for breakfast and put some in bags each day for breakfast. Bring snacks that are filling. peanuts work great for us.

The Crystal light/kool aid packets are great. Are you comfortable sharing meals? For example we would order 3 pizzas for the 4 of us or DH and I would share an appetizer and a meal.

Do you have the Disney VISA card? I think if you sign up, you get a free points with your first purchase that you can use at the Parks. That saved us a lot of money last time.

Partially freeze the water bottles do they stay cold longer.