Our Disney Trip Budget Just Got Tighter

[Nztara]

Hi Everyone,

We will be visiting the World the last week of January. Everything was on track until DH got word that the week after our trip he will need to be out of town for training. His out of town week expenses are on the company, but when he travels it has a significant negative impact on his pay because he is a commission based employee.

That means we are now adjusting our Disney trip budget to make sure we don't have any issues when we return. Here's what we have covered so far:

Lodging: part gifted at AKL through a friend in DVC (studio), the rest offsite through parents' timeshare - all fees paid
Tickets: 5 day base tickets- ordered and paid with Disney Visa rewards. Eliminated hopper option due to this budget change.
Memory Maker: on hold and most likely eliminated
Date Night 1: Wishes Dessert Party - paid at time of reservation
Date Night 2: will most likely be strolling Epcot while parents watch DS- will adjust dinner to new budget

We plan to eat breakfast in our room/condo except for a Hollywood and Vine reservation. Lunch or dinner, if done in parks, will be counter service. We will either split adult meals or order a kids meal to reduce cost. We have one other character meal planned- Garden Grill and would like to keep it.

Looking for ways to save to on meal at T-Rex so we can keep it. Otherwise, we plan to eat offsite. We will need breaks for DS so either lunch or dinner will be offsite each day.

I plan to sign up for the Sweet Tomatoes email coupon just before we leave for the trip. I looked at the kids eat free card and it doesn't appeal to us. Any other suggestions on local places with a good email discount?

Any suggestions on gas card discounts?

What are the best snacks for sharing in the parks? We will pack a few, but want to enjoy something in the park as well.

For the days we are offsite, does it make sense to park at DTD and take the bus to the parks to save the parking fee or is that too much hassle for the amount saved?

Because we are only six weeks out, I don't think signing up for sites like swag bucks would be an option. DH and I both work full time and doubt we would have time to accumulate enough to get gift cards before the trip.

We are requesting Disney gift cards or trip related items for Christmas. We are not huge souvenir people, so we won't spend much in shops. I also plan to buy Disney gift cards at Sam's, which saves $8 per $150. I hope to use those for character meals, counter service and snacks.

If you have other areas where we can save, those would be appreciated as well.

Thank you!

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

DTD to the parks is a huge hassle. Allow at least 3 hours round trip.

Since you have a car a great lunch option close MK is the Hess gas station. They have a nice café area with several tables and chair. You can get made to order subs, hotdogs, pizza by the slice or a whole pizza for $8.99 and certain days of the week they through in a free 2lt of pop. Dunkin Donuts and coffee as well. We usually do lunch there and pay less than $8.00 total for two people! I think this location now has a Quizno's inside.

If you are at Epcot take a break and walk over to the Boardway and eat at Big River Grill. Order the chicken nacho's its huge and will feed 3 people that is how big it is.


The only way to save at T-Rex is to join the Landry's Select Club. You can use the membership card to save 10% off at T-rex, Rainforest and Yaki and Yeti. And you will get $25 birthday funds added to your card on your birthday

 

[Pumbaa_]

There are no buses from dtd to the parks. Taking a bus to a resort then to a park is a huge time suck.

Leaving to go offsite for a meal, factor in 2 hours minimum. Just getting out of the park to the car takes a chunk of time. Factor in cost savings vs the wear and tear on yourself, not to mention how much time it takes

For cs meals, there are ways to conserve. For a combo meal, you can order it without fries. Order 1 with and share. Get water or bring your beverage instead of purchasing it.

Budget is important but not to the point it negatively impacts your trip. Saving a little but going to the extreme at wdw after spending thousands on your trip would be a waste of money.

Instead, cut your food budget now. Do the things to save money from your grocery budget and take that with you.

Plus dh will be gone a week when you get home, should be some food savings there.

 

[Dean1953]

We are leaving Friday and driving down for a couple of weeks offsite. I had to cut down from 10 ADR's to two and plan on eating most meals at condo or using Resturant.com, local Groupons , gift cards at franchise resturants and am taking the kids eat free card ( got on EBay for $6.00). We are upgrading to AP's, so no parking fees and have $200 in disney gift cards left over after the upgrade and will use them for snacks at the parks (there is a Super Target near our condo to purchase more when we run out). I think that the Groupons and Resturant.com certificates would be the most beneficial to you.

 

[Nztara]

Thanks for the feedback on buses from DTD. We will budget for parking.

We will need midday breaks for DS, so we'll have to go offsite anyway. I will check out the Hess station. I'm a big fan of Quiznos Sammies. We no longer have Quiznos, so that will be a treat.

We'll go with water at all meals and bring a water bottle with flavor packets.

I did not realize combos could be ordered without fries. Thanks for the tip!


I am definitely adjusting our grocery budget now to have as much as possible for the parks. We cash flow all vacations (and everything else we buy except our house) so I'm trying to adjust in all areas to accommodate the changes.

 

[Buzzsgramma]

If you are around the Boardwalk ... the Boardwalk bakery has delis sandwiches & desserts...

 

[nighttowll]

At this point, it looks like all your big expenses are paid for, so I'm not sure there is much room left to save.

As far as meals, your plan is pretty good. Quick service, split meals, kids meals, maybe snack for a meal, go off property if possible. Definitely try Groupon. There are always great deals on there, especially if you aren't set on a specific place.

You can get free ice-water in the parks at any place that has a soda machine, so that should save on drinks. However, some people don't like the taste, so the flavor packs aren't a bad idea.

As far as T-rex, I'm not sure if you are wanting the experience or the food more. If it is more about the experience, consider eating a light meal or snack before you go and than just splitting appetizers or dessert. That will cut the bill down greatly, and you still get to experience the fun. In my opinion, the appetizers are the best thing on the menu anyway.

Try the outlets for Disney souvenirs.

I know there is a discount at Wal-Mart for gas. I'm not sure exactly how it works, but people at work do it all the time. You buy a Wal-Mart gift card, and then pay for the gas at Wal-Mart with the gift card, and it gives you some off. I don't think it is a huge discount, like 3 cents / gallon maybe.

 

[Plutofan]

We eat breakfast in the room. We just bring food to use in the toaster or microwave. We bring backpacks with water and snacks. We skip lunch and do an early dinner around 4. This way we save on lunch. We also take advantage of shoter lines during normal dinner hours.

 

[tarheel618]

Can you cut back or take back some Christmas gifts? Maybe agree to skip giving your hubby something and him giving you something and use the money towards your trip?

 

[cel_disney]

If DH gets paid commission is there anything he can do to increase his commission on other weeks when he is not traveling? Not sure exactly what business he is in - but Maybe an extra sales shift or something for someone over the holidays or even February vacation break right after you return? Maybe they would rather have the family time than the sales...

 

[danygirl]

We usually take fruit, peanut butter crackers, cookies and candy as park snacks, sandwiches too.

 

[cattywampus]

Sign up for Landrys Club. You usually are immediately given a $25 award for signing up. Make your birthday sometime in Jan (there is no verification required) and you will get a 2nd $25 award so you will have $50 towards T- Rex.

If you need to save more, I would either drop one of the buffets or Dessert Party. Bring your own water.

 

[DVCTX]

There is no parking fee for the days you are staying at AKL. Resort guests get free parking at the parks. You used to show your key to the world card, I don't know how it works now that everything uses magicbands.

 

[Sadie22]

When we joined the Landrys club we had to pay $25 for the privilege of getting $25 credit. If it's the birthday month, there's another $25 added.

 

[cel_disney]

There is no parking fee for the days you are staying at AKL. Resort guests get free parking at the parks. You used to show your key to the world card, I don't know how it works now that everything uses magicbands.

You now show your MB to the attendant and they scan it. (Or get the paper from the front desk for the dash)

 

[ilovefh]

I don't know the location of your timeshare but on Wednesdays Manny's Chophouse in Haines City has buy one get one fajitas. Their portions are HUGE! We've never left there without boxes. It's a bit of a drive but very worth it! If you go call ahead because the wait is crazy without it. Our first time we didn't call ahead and we waited almost 2 hours, on a week night.

 

[JohnDaleswife]

Do you know anyone with a Costco card? If so, go and order or go to the store, I seen them just the other day in my local Costco and get the $100 worth of McCormick and Schidmtz gift cards for $79.99. Use them at T-Rex!!!!!!

 

[StitchBuddy]

One thing I do is look for very inexpensive meals to fix at home, like spaghetti with more noodles and less meat, hotdogs, etc... you get the idea. That makes my food budget less and I can take that money and use it somewhere else. My dad always use to fix a big pot of beans. One night we would eat it with cornbread the next with rice. Just ideas. Good luck!

 

[v.t.]

Check Groupon for a Landry's gift card.

 

[Marionnette]

Try checking Raise .com for restaurant GCs at a discount. Landry's (Rainforest, T-Rex), Wolfgang Puck, and offsite chain restaurants. Right now, the Landry's GCs are selling for as much as 20% off the face value.