saving money in the parks....

[Hallowishes]

cLUB Cool at EPCOT = Free Coca-Cola Products from around the world!

 

[mickeyluv'r]

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?

Your thread touches my heart....this is a bit sad to me...originally I spent all my DIS time on the budget board because it was ENTIRELY devoted to moeny saving tips WHILE at WDW...I agree it has migrated, to the point that I rarely use it now...but your thread is particularly poignant.


A number of your ideas have been floated and tried...Many of your ideas I have tried, and have come to the idea that DDP is one of the best ways to budget food at WDW.

CS (Counter service ) meals are certianly big enough for member s of my family to share, however....a buffet MAY well take the place of two meals. Indeed, after a buffet dinner (and I wouldn't even say I stuff myself) I personally am not very hungry the next morning. The converse of that is if you are active wwalking all day at WDW, you will burn quite a few calories. I've noticed this many times over the years.

If youa re not doing DDP, than having some snacks and breakfast itmes inthe room is one simple idea....however..if your breakfast is protein - it will carry you better. If you ahve something witha high gylcemic index for breakfast - like Pop Tarts - you will get hungry faster and be more hungry over the day.

A late breakfast buffet and you won't want lunch.

#3 and #6 are good.

#4, water is great. Walmart doesn't have teh best selction of fruit. One trip it had no bananas, no grapes, no strawberries or blueberries. I went there to get fruit and came away with nothing. Another time they did have good Flroida oranges (a big reason why I even attempted a second time). Publix is better for having reliably good fruit at reasonable prices.

#5 is a contentious issue onthe DIS.

#7 - good luch finding a $30 bathing suit on property. Maybe for the kiddies, but I'd expect adult suits to be more like $70 at least.

As I said above- picking your foods carefully is one way to save money. Always choose a non-fried protein over a starch - plain chicken over a cookie or noodles. The protein will hold you better. It has become increasingly difficult to eat healthy foods at WDW, and some of the healthier choices are the more expensive ones- however, there are still some okay QS options at WDW.

 

[eeyorepixie]

one of our carry ons has all the breakfast goodies and coffee...

we only go in stores once a trip @ DTD and kids spend their birthday money.

I buy souvies before I go for friends, I have bought bulk disney items on ebay and waited for a 30%-20% disney outlet stuff.

go during free dining

 

[tndisneyfan]

Have snacky stuff in the room that you can take to the parks with you. Stuff like cereal bars and fruit. Also we've been sharing drinks. If we buy a Coke in the park, we all drink on it. I don't like to drink them after they start getting warm so we didn't waste any.

 

[DisneyFamily123]

I prefer to cut back and save money at home. For us, vacation is about splurging a bit. And time is money.

Saving Time -- It cost a lot more at the Polynesian last trip but we saved a lot of time because of the monorail transportation, had greater and faster access to restaurants, and got to enjoy the MK halloween fireworks from the resort when we didn't go to the party. We also were much better rested sleeping in larger beds.

That being said......

Food -- The Dining Plan saved us a lot of money. And just having breakfast in our room a lot of mornings saved on our 1st trip in 2008. We used snack credits for juice and milk, brought cereal and cereal bars from home, and sometimes got a stack of pancakes from the resort and brought it back to our room and shared. We used the refillable mugs a lot too. For $13 a mug, it's a good deal and a souvenir.

For me, I like a bigger budget for souvenirs. $30 won't buy much. I think the quality of Disney merchandise online and in stores are not good. The park merchandise is much better even though a t-shirt can cost up to $30. So for me, saving money on souvenirs means buying stuff I can only get at Disney World. I love the tshirts that are very colorful with all the characters.

OK, so you can see that so far, I'm not very good at saving at the parks!

BUT, I watch all the special offers from Disney World all the time. I'm on all their email lists. And I get heads up on some of the offers by being a Disney Chase Visa holder. Next trip, we are getting 40% off deluxe room rate.

I'm starting a special account for our next trip... and every time I find a way to save a dollar at home, it will go in the account. For example, skip buying lunch and just have an orange (I'm dieting a bit too). Selling old unwanted items on ebay/yard sale. Overtime pay. Stuff like that.

I know... not much help here.

 

[rndmr2]

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

I used AmEx to pay me deposit for my trip I am taking in May...

 

[softballmom3]

If you eat at Pecos Bills in the MK or any other place that serves hamburgers: order the Double Cheese Burger Platter (or hamburger), then ask for an extra roll. They will charge you about $1.00 for it, when you get to your table take one of the burgers off and put it on the other roll and split the fries. Now you've just made 2 decent size meals out of 1 overly large meal. The toppings are free at the bar, so load up there.

Hope this helps!

Nice suggestion! Never thought of it!

 

[Indiana Rose Lee]

A protein and a complex carb will hold you far better than a doughnut in the am!

 

[jamstew]

A protein and a complex carb will hold you far better than a doughnut in the am!