saving money in the parks....

[meeshkamooshka]

not sure this is the right place...didnt seem like the budget board was appropriate ...people are talking about clipping coupons and letting their house forclose....

anyhoo

I want to see if I can save money in the parks....this is my plan let me know if these are obtainable or you have a better idea....

1. limit my meals - eat twice a day
2. no character dining or ressies at the caifornia grill or other expensive restaurants
3. no souveneirs except for the last day and only 30 dollar limit
4. buy lots of water, fruit from walmart
5. bring my free refill cup from last trip in may of 09
6. bring sweater and rain poncho so i dont get suckered on those items
7. bring bathing suit so if I can swim in feb, I dont have o buy one for $30 in gift ship
8. hmmm...did I forget anything?

 

[Cat0727]

Disney gives out large cups of ice water for free at CS & snack locations.

 

[jayandstacey]

That all seems reasonable. My kids have never gotten souveniers, so they don't know to ask for them. Makes a budget of $0 hardly any effort at all.

I'd also add to order less food than you think you may need. Try sharing a soda, or even chicken nuggets or a salad. You can always go back and get more.

I wouldn't skip a meal, rather, just have breakfast in your room. Buy muffins or doughnuts or something. Starving yourself will only lessen your chances for success. Carry some simple snacks with you, like granola bars. If you start to feel hungry, eat one and have some water - should buy you some time.

If temptation is an issue, consider bringing in a card Disney doesn't accept - like AmEx or Discover - as your only money source.

 

[cbg1027]

Eating twice a day would not be a good way to save money. You need the energy from all meals in order to keep up your strength and stamina in the parks. Remember you're most likely going to be walking 10+ miles per day! If you're hungry and tired you're not going to enjoy your trip as much.

Character dining can actually be some of the best values in WDW restaurants. If you're planning a TS meal, a buffet with characters is a good value, and you get a lot of food for the money.

If you're looking to save money on dining, then I think the best plan is to stick to CS meals. Instead of skipping a meal, you could buy some breakfast items to keep in the room. That's cheaper than eating something in the hotel food court.

You might want to bring some snacks to keep on you too. Bringing your own apple or cereal bar is cheaper than buying a bucket of popcorn or a pretzel.

If you really want to save money on water, just wash and refill bottles with tap water. I take my own bottle in to the park and use the water fountains to fill it up throughout the day. Then when I go back to the room at night I wash the bottle. I know a lot of people don't like the taste of Disney tap water, and I don't think it's the best, but it is free. I never pay for bottles of water at Disney.

You're not allowed to reuse a refillable mug from a previous visit. That's a Disney no-no. I've heard about people doing it on trips that were close together, but your mug will probably have a different design than the current one, so it might not work even if you decided to break the rule.

 

[meeshkamooshka]

Eating twice a day would not be a good way to save money. You need the energy from all meals in order to keep up your strength and stamina in the parks. Remember you're most likely going to be walking 10+ miles per day! If you're hungry and tired you're not going to enjoy your trip as much.

Character dining can actually be some of the best values in WDW restaurants. If you're planning a TS meal, a buffet with characters is a good value, and you get a lot of food for the money.

If you're looking to save money on dining, then I think the best plan is to stick to CS meals. Instead of skipping a meal, you could buy some breakfast items to keep in the room. That's cheaper than eating something in the hotel food court.

You might want to bring some snacks to keep on you too. Bringing your own apple or cereal bar is cheaper than buying a bucket of popcorn or a pretzel.

If you really want to save money on water, just wash and refill bottles with tap water. I take my own bottle in to the park and use the water fountains to fill it up throughout the day. Then when I go back to the room at night I wash the bottle. I know a lot of people don't like the taste of Disney tap water, and I don't think it's the best, but it is free. I never pay for bottles of water at Disney.

You're not allowed to reuse a refillable mug from a previous visit. That's a Disney no-no. I've heard about people doing it on trips that were close together, but your mug will probably have a different design than the current one, so it might not work even if you decided to break the rule.

thanks for the good tips, but I think Ill spring for my ozarka water....the huge breakfast all you can eat is one I will skip..just eat an apple ( like you mention ) and get ready for lunch !

I figure if I eat less i will have less weight to carry around...better fuel economy, no???

 

[meeshkamooshka]

funnything is...I usually forget that silly mug in the room every time...and then I have to go back to the room to get it or carry it arounf with me all day... I think ill just get $15 worth of canned soda from the walmart near disney along with the 5 lbs of orange, grapes, bananas... and water...I am surre that would eaily cost me $200 + in the parks for a week long vacation!

 

[siestakey]

bring the mug, the only people that care about reusing mugs are people on the Dis Boards. Get a few rain ponchos from Target or Walmart at .88 a piece, so you don't mind throwing them away. Of course bring your bathing suit, so you can realx in the hot tubs at the end of the day! We eat a good breakfast, and dinner, and always have good snacks in our room.

 

[iheartdolewhips]

I don't think eating only twice a day is an issue. We always eat just two meals a day at WDW and use a snack to spread them out. If you're planning on doing some table service places (I'd say at least half of the days or more), definitely compare your costs to the dining plan. You'll save money that way and then you can eat anywhere you want and get anything you want.

Bathing suit is also a good idea - doesn't take up much space and you'll regret it if you don't bring it and want it. As far as souveneirs go, I would stick to the dollar limit more strictly than the onlly on the last day part. A lot of the things you can find at almost all of the shops, but they do have a lot of specialty items as well. I don't like my last day of a vacation to be spent running around trying to find something I liked. If you don't buy it when you see it (I understand the need to "shop around" , then at least make a note of where you saw what you liked so you don't forget where it was.

 

[indimom]

All your ideas seem fine to me, except the mug idea which is technically not allowed. You could easily do two meals a day and keep a few snacks/breakfast foods/drinks/fruit in your room to take with you in the AM. I agree with another poster who suggested buying a little less than you think you will need at counter service. You can always go back if someone is still hungry, but at least you won't waste food if someone can't finish. You can also get water for free at the counter service and add those flavor packets (light weight and easy to carry with you). Hope this helps. Good ideas. Keep them coming as I may use a few!

 

[Hannathy]

I don't agree with bringing the mug. It is against the rules and I'm a pretty big rule follower!

Also you say in the parks and the mugs aren't good in the parks anyway.

 

[Metsoskil]

Uggh, The mug thing again. The horse is dead. Put down the whip.

 

[tinkerfan1]

bring the mug, the only people that care about reusing mugs are people on the Dis Boards.

Anybody who follows rules cares about that. I guess some people just don't have to follow them.

 

[BrittLeshea]

I agree with the people who said to get a pack of doughnuts or muffins or something to eat in the morning for breakfast. That's exactly what I plan to do in March! I did schedule one breakfast ADR at 'Ohana one day that we're there, though. It's possible to get through the day with two meals, but just be sure to snack on something throughout the day to keep your energy up or else you'll end up spending MORE money out of pure hunger! LOL I think you'll be fine! The "buying less at counter service locations" is a really good idea, too!

 

[summerlady]

Uggh, The mug thing again. The horse is dead. Put down the whip.

 

[PearlySwan]

Uggh, The mug thing again. The horse is dead. Put down the whip.

^^^ Totally agree with you on this one.

Just as a way to take care of this problem, I would suggest Disney returns to making resort specific mugs. Perhaps they can even slap the year on the mug design thereby ensuring people won't abuse use of mugs from previous years/trips. Just a suggestion.... I could care less about the mugs as we aren't big soda drinkers, except for hubby who did purchase a mug at WL during our trip.

 

[mousireid]

Eating in your room IS a great idea you can have snacks, breakfast items and fill up - best way to start the day! Bringing a few wee snacks (fruit/granola/raisins/trail mix) to stash in a handy pocket would be great - even a few wee hard candies for sucking on especially in lines or waiting for parades.
You can also see the restuarant prices before you hit any parks and the best food at those particular places, here online. There are great in park choices for cheaper. Many meals are rather large and can be split, even childrens meals at counter service can be substantial enough for lunch.
Check out http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/dining.htm for that.
If you DO bring water a few of those tiny flavor packets help liven up plain water and take up little room.

 

[hookedonears]

We always bring snacks for early morning, eat a brunch and big dinner.

 

[KJ Luvs Pluto]

I always bring the single serving flavor packets for the water bottles. They don't take up much room in the back pack and they cover the nasty taste of the water in the parks. I have to refill my bottle of water several times throughout the day and this helps me make sure I stay hydrated. We also bring along small ziplock bags so that we can carry healthy snacks in the pack. We purchase stuff at the store on the way to the resort and then divide them into the ziplocks - cheaper than buying stuff in the pre-packaged sizes if you are trying to save money.

If you really want to make sure you keep to a budget on souvies, you could buy a Disney Gift card ahead of time with the specific amount you want to spend so you don't go over budget.

 

[zhazhazsu]

^^^ Totally agree with you on this one.

Just as a way to take care of this problem, I would suggest Disney returns to making resort specific mugs. Perhaps they can even slap the year on the mug design thereby ensuring people won't abuse use of mugs from previous years/trips. Just a suggestion.... I could care less about the mugs as we aren't big soda drinkers, except for hubby who did purchase a mug at WL during our trip.

This would work if any CM actually enforced it. Ar POR people were using all different mugs including the christmas collectable mugs they were selling at O! lights, and mugs from past years/ resorts.I never saw one person spoken to by CM, and there were lots in the dining area.

 

[pickles]

why not do the disney CS dining plan? $30 a day and you dont have to worry about ordering and dragging stuff with you.
You get a drink mug. your extra snacks you can use for water or drinks or fruit or sweets
and you will have 2 full counter service meals a day

watching a budget too closely can make things a little less fun.

we had to be budget minded last trip. we did share cs meals and drinks when possible. ate breakfast in room with food we packed and brought in our suitcase...pop tarts were made for disney!