tips to save money!!!

[Zippa D Doodah]

I'm surprised the op didn't know about the budget board, being an old timer and all.

Maybe they wanted input from a wider audience than the 12 people who look at the Budget Board.
Either way, I suspect the DIS will survive.

 

[GinnyEmma]

Maybe they wanted input from a wider audience than the 12 people who look at the Budget Board.
Either way, I suspect the DIS will survive.

Ya think?

 

[ML_LovesDisney]

By doing the basic DDP one trip, and the DxDDP one trip, I have realized that what I would ACTUALLY eat without "trying to get my money's worth" (to make my DDP seem like a value), would be MUCH less than what we paid for the dining plans. This trip we will not get DDP and eat our normal amounts we would at home, which will definitley save money! Also, we buy our girls t-shirts when Disney store has their twice annual sale for very cheap so we don't have to buy them in the park.

 

[MHSweb79]

I'm sorry but NO WAY I would go hungry. If I can afford to fly down to Disney, buy park tickets and pay my monthly DVC payment and annual dues, I can afford my own meal.

In May my DD and I split the chicken entree at Teppan Edo, more because the last time I ate there I ate too much and felt sick for hours. Now, four people at our table ordered chicken, and the chef brought out 6 large skinless chicken breasts. So 1.5 LARGE chicken breasts per person! My DD and I split the meal and we were both full. I also felt better because we didn't throw away a half meal each, which is what would have happened had we each ordered our own.

I think there are plenty of entrees at TS restaurants that can be split without ANYONE going the least bit hungry.

Anyway, my tip for saving $$ is to watch our local Disney store or anywhere, for that matter, for great bargains on Disney T-shirts. I've gotten them as cheap as $3-5 each, even at the Disney store on clearance. Then they get washed and put away for our trip, so we have brand-new shirts without paying $25 apiece while we're there.

 

[DisneyLindsay]

These are my tips for a family with young children.

We have a family of 5 soon to be 6 and small children generally want what they see and don't understand costs. My solution, since my hubby is a big pushover, is we compromise, I buy and bring things with us for the kids the glow sticks etc, and they get one larger purchase per child while we are there.

I also have a `DISNEY BIN` and In it when we come home from a trip I put away the mister bottles, the Disney hats, binocculars for animal kingdom, ponchos(which I buy at the dollar store) the expensive disney wands that light up and spin. (they do not realize they are gone and when they get pulled out the next year they think it is new, and they think we are the best parents ever( well we are but, )
I also bring their Disney plush animals and they stay in the room while we tour the parks. This way they know they have them and they are less tempted to want to buy every mickey and minnie they see! It is also neat to see the mousekeepers arrange them in funy positions at the end of the day.

I buy the Thermos Funtainers for the kids and put ice in them in the morning at the room and fill with bottled water that we buy at walmart before we arrive. The Funtainers are amazing and they will keep cold for 12 hours so they say, my experience has been that they have kept ice for 18-22 hours. The kids always have a cold drink. This year instead of any other sippy cups I have bought and plan to use only these for water, milk, and juice the entire trip. This saves me money in the long run, we can buy drinks for the kids ahead of time and use throughout the park all day. We Drive and I hate finding a smelly cup that has slid under a seat and having to deal with it.

For our road trip down we get the I75 coupon hotel book and try to stay at one of them to save money.

I am sure I have more tips, as I am always looking for ways to make Disney more affordable for large families. We always take our own stroller and never rent, it saves a tonne over a vacation. We also travel during free dining which helps tremendously.

 

[michiml03]

I love all of these tips! My fiance and I are going to WDW in July 2012 for our honeymoon and we are beyond excited! We have already started a "change jar" that is going towards our trip! You'd be surprised how fast that change adds up! We collected several hundred dollars in a little over a year to go on a shopping trip for new clothes, so I can only imagine how much extra change we'll throw in the jar for Disney!
I am trying to convince him that we will not be eating 3 square meals a day with 2-4 snacks in between like we do now. He is a big eater with a fast metabolism and does not think we will ever be sharing meals. I, on the other hand, have a much smaller appetite, especially in the summer. I guess we still have a year to discuss this situation so we'll wait and see!
Keep the tips coming everyone!

Change jar is a great tip last year we had planned a trip for Dec in Sept so not much time for saving whatever change we had in our pockets by the end of the we put in a jar we had about 250 and that was spending $$ so stick to it you got time before you trip so you can save $$$ congrats on the engagement

 

[100AcreWood]

These are my tips for a family with young children.

We have a family of 5 soon to be 6 and small children generally want what they see and don't understand costs. My solution, since my hubby is a big pushover, is we compromise, I buy and bring things with us for the kids the glow sticks etc, and they get one larger purchase per child while we are there.

I also have a `DISNEY BIN` and In it when we come home from a trip I put away the mister bottles, the Disney hats, binocculars for animal kingdom, ponchos(which I buy at the dollar store) the expensive disney wands that light up and spin. (they do not realize they are gone and when they get pulled out the next year they think it is new, and they think we are the best parents ever( well we are but, )
I also bring their Disney plush animals and they stay in the room while we tour the parks. This way they know they have them and they are less tempted to want to buy every mickey and minnie they see! It is also neat to see the mousekeepers arrange them in funy positions at the end of the day.

I buy the Thermos Funtainers for the kids and put ice in them in the morning at the room and fill with bottled water that we buy at walmart before we arrive. The Funtainers are amazing and they will keep cold for 12 hours so they say, my experience has been that they have kept ice for 18-22 hours. The kids always have a cold drink. This year instead of any other sippy cups I have bought and plan to use only these for water, milk, and juice the entire trip. This saves me money in the long run, we can buy drinks for the kids ahead of time and use throughout the park all day. We Drive and I hate finding a smelly cup that has slid under a seat and having to deal with it.

For our road trip down we get the I75 coupon hotel book and try to stay at one of them to save money.

I am sure I have more tips, as I am always looking for ways to make Disney more affordable for large families. We always take our own stroller and never rent, it saves a tonne over a vacation. We also travel during free dining which helps tremendously.

Good tips. We're a family of 5 and I'm curious about your advice on Funtainers. I bought one but it leaked really badly so I tossed it. Maybe I had a defective one?

 

[mrzrich]

Good tips. We're a family of 5 and I'm curious about your advice on Funtainers. I bought one but it leaked really badly so I tossed it. Maybe I had a defective one?

Hydroflasks also keep drinks cold for hours and hold a bit more than the funtainer. I think they give a DIS discount. Promotional code is dis

 

[knlasv]

If you are a small eater and he is not I would recommend you pay OOP. That way you can order a soup and salad or an app as your meal. At CS you can order a kids meal for yourself. Also bring snacks with you. What does he eat for snacks? I am thinking things like granola bars or cliff bars would be great for Disney and will fit great in your day bag. Plus easy to take on a plane if you are flying.

Yeah i plan on packing snacks on the plane with us like granola bars, peanut butter crackers, and anything that won't melt in the July heat! Crystal lite is also a must with the free water that the park already provides!

 

[ciera321]

My tip is for saving for a Disney trip, or any trip for that matter. When I go to the grocery store every week I take the amount of cash that I budget for groceries and misc. items, like shampoo, paper towels, etc. I shop from a list and use coupons when I can. I know that any amount of cash I leave the grocery store with goes into our vacation checking account on Monday morning. I also do the same for our entertainment/eating out money. When we get a rebate check or an unexpected check in the mail, it goes in there, too. In a years time I almost always have around $2,000. I call it "free money" because when didn't do this I would almost always go over my budget and have to put a few dollars on my debit card. Just by being careful at the grocery store and not buying stuff I don't need, I save a lot. I don't really even use a lot of coupons. May not work for everyone, but it does for us. When we have a $2,000 head start on our vacation budget, it makes it a LOT easier!!!

 

[WLSILVERCREEKSPRINGS]

Stay home and watch video from last trip

 

[srauchbauer]

I'm not doing a very good today, I am tired of cooking in this heat so I am trying to talk DH into going out.

 

[Crazy4Disney06]

Buy park tickets ahead of time through Undercover Tourist.

 

[Donnainnj]

This trip we are not on the dining plan, we do have TIW and we really like Wolfgang Puck Express, and purchased gift cards for there at Costco online, for two $50 gift cards it is $79.99.
I have also read the best way to get discount tickets is with the YES program, but we have AP's right now, might try that when they expire if there is a class available for one of my kids.
Donna

 

[myjourney]

The biggest saving is to buy points from DVC for your room. Also using those for Sunday through Friday is the best rate, it gets much more expensive on Friday and Saturday night.

We usually stay five days at one resort then go to St Augustine beach for the weekend and back to another Disney resort for five more nights. It usually costs me somewhere between 1,400 to 1,600 for all 12 nights and we usually stay at Animal Kingdom Lodge and Saratoga Springs

A smaller tip is buying resturant gift certificate from resturqnt.com for House of Blues. read the fine print though you can only use one a month, but I got a $25 gc for $3.00

Last time we ordered pizza from I believe it was Giordanos and they delivered to the room. We usually do not like any pizza other than what we make, but this was very good and the cost was very reasonable.

 

[jmkjr72]

sure there is an intial investment but buy a dvc if you plan to go a lot
we have had dvc for 15 years now and it was paid for quickly if you figure the cost of rooms it has more then paid for itself
sure we have a maintnece fee but it amounts to 1200 a year and what do we get for that 1200 10 nights in a grand villa
buy staying on property we have no need for a rental car
we eat most brakefasts and dinners in the room our only in park meals are lunch and maybe a late afternoon snack to get by for a late dinner
we reuse our water bottle straps from years past
bring some beverages into the park with us in the morning
use our dvc discount for any thing we can
and we buy tickets far in advance as our vacation fund allows(i belive there are engouh tickets in the safe for our next 4 trips(any where form 10 to 13 go every year)

 

[PrincessTiffany]

The biggest saving is to buy points from DVC for your room. Also using those for Sunday through Friday is the best rate, it gets much more expensive on Friday and Saturday night.

We usually stay five days at one resort then go to St Augustine beach for the weekend and back to another Disney resort for five more nights. It usually costs me somewhere between 1,400 to 1,600 for all 12 nights and we usually stay at Animal Kingdom Lodge and Saratoga Springs

A smaller tip is buying resturant gift certificate from resturqnt.com for House of Blues. read the fine print though you can only use one a month, but I got a $25 gc for $3.00

Last time we ordered pizza from I believe it was Giordanos and they delivered to the room. We usually do not like any pizza other than what we make, but this was very good and the cost was very reasonable.

Renting DVC points does not save money for every family. We are a family of 6 and we always get 2 connecting rooms at a value resort and since 2007 we tend to rotate our annual trips around the free dining promo. I have priced out renting DVC points on more than one occasion and it's DOUBLE the cost of getting 2 rooms, plus you can't even the free dining discount if you are renting points.

I would have to say that, for us, the biggest money saving thing we do is to travel during free dining dates. We love the DDP, and we have never shared meals, even when the kids were much younger. I know everyone can't travel during free dining dates, but it's what keeps us coming back every year.

 

[PrincessTiffany]

sure there is an intial investment but buy a dvc if you plan to go a lot
we have had dvc for 15 years now and it was paid for quickly if you figure the cost of rooms it has more then paid for itself
sure we have a maintnece fee but it amounts to 1200 a year and what do we get for that 1200 10 nights in a grand villa
buy staying on property we have no need for a rental car
we eat most brakefasts and dinners in the room our only in park meals are lunch and maybe a late afternoon snack to get by for a late dinner
we reuse our water bottle straps from years past
bring some beverages into the park with us in the morning
use our dvc discount for any thing we can
and we buy tickets far in advance as our vacation fund allows(i belive there are engouh tickets in the safe for our next 4 trips(any where form 10 to 13 go every year)

We have looked into DVC a couple of times, but with the minimum $25,000.00 up front cost for a family our size, it just never seems to make financial sense to us. I haven't spent that much money on 7 years worth of trips. Really, it probably all comes down to the Free Dining Discount being the reason DVC doesn't work for us. For a family our size the FD discount trumps anything else out there right now - Disney, with free dining, is actually one of the best budget trips we can take. If Disney ever completely did away with Free Dining then a DVC purchase might come back into consideration.

 

[torinsmom]

Our biggest savings is in staying offsite. With 8 of us going this year, we are renting a 5 bedroom pool home in Indian Creek for $807(8 nights) It would have cost around $2400 for 2 rooms at a value. Add into that the money we will save by eating simple breakfasts and an occasional lunch or dinner at the house, and the savings really adds up. Everyone always mentions having to pay for parking, but even if you add 7 days of parking in, the cost is $905.

We have bought YES tickets the last 2 years. This year, YES 7 day hoppers were $1500 for the 8 of us. Regular Disney price would have been $2500.

We get the free ice water for 90% of our drinks. I bring the flavor packets. This saves calories as well as money. Too much soda also gives me heartburn, and I sure don't miss that.

We bring snacks to the parks, simple things like PB crackers and fruit snacks--just a little something to tide us over between meals.

I often buy kids meals at CS restaurants if I'm just going to get a burger anyway. It is plenty of food for me. I have also split a larger entree with my son when neither one of us was very hungry.

We buy ponchos at the Dollar Tree 2/$1 in case it rains. It's much cheaper than the Disney ones, and we just toss them after we use them.

DS gets a set amount of money. Once it's gone, it's gone. It's only for souvenirs, of course, as I buy his food.

At home, we save change in a change jar and I do surveys for a site a TM at Universal set me up with. Usually have about $100, as I don't use cash a lot, but every little bit helps.

If it wasn't for doing things budget, we wouldn't get to go every year

 

[tinkerszs]

If you have a daughter who would love the princess makeover this is what I did. I went to bridal craft section at Walmat and bought her a little tiara with a comb. I watched some BBB videos at home on youtube. I bought stick on rhinestones and pink glitter. When we were at Disney World I styled her hair to match the BBB complete with crown, glitter, and rhinestones, and my little extra a homemade bow. She got sooooooooooooooo many compliments on her hair and it was cheap!