Tricks for saving money at WDW

[iman]

Goofyenmost had a great reply and a great way to save money. Yea, staying at the parks definately rule, but it is WAY EXPENSIVE and not everyone can afford the extra money. We should never judge any one or put down anyone's ideas. Just going on vacation anywhere should be special. If you can save hundreds on a hotel room and do not mind driving, then that idea most definately rocks!

 

[jeffemy]

In addition to most of the ideas already posted, on our last vacation we stayed at POR for $95 a night/code from mousesavers,
bought the water bottle fans at Wal-mart for $6 opposed to $18 at the parks,
bought glow sticks at Wal-mart for a dollar for the night parades
brought any over-the-counter medications,like tylenol, children's motrin, band-aids, antibiotic cream,eye-drops..etc
Watched for DS sales

But our biggest money-saver was purchasing restaurant gift-cards through-out the year to use for vacation. We drove so were able to go off-site for meals. We usually ate breakfast in the room, lunch at the parks, and after our pool-break at the resort, we would drive maybe 5-10 mins. to the Cross-roads area to have dinner.This saved us a lot of money. We dined at restaurants like Red Lobster, Olive Garden..etc all week.There is a rainforest Cafe in our area so I also purchased gift certificates from them as well. We ate very well and ate where I knew the kids would like and in addition to the gift cards I utilized any coupons I could from various places to save even more!

 

[Sharper]

Originally posted by goofyernmost
Now don't kill me for saying this, but that is the reason that I have never stayed on-site. The only onsite hotel I would even be tempted to stay in is the Contemporary (tower) but I can stay a whole week off site for the cost of one night there.

I know that if you can afford it, it is fun to spend your trip right there in the heart of the magic but if you don't have that kind of money then this is the best way to see it and not go broke.

No one is going to "kill" you, but I must say that if you have never stayed onsite, then you really can't fully comprehend the advantages in time, atmosphere and just more "magic" in the trip. And there are plenty of ways to spend the night onsite at wonderful places for less than seven time what you currently pay offsite (unless you're renting space under the interstate overpass!) I stayed offsite only ONCE. On our upcoming trip had an incredibly cheap deal for a condo only a couple of miles from WDW. It was making me crazy, not wanting to stay offsite, and luckily DH finally said what I was thinking, that it was just not worth saving a few dollars and simply not enjoying our much-anticipated vacation nearly as much! So, we did some rearranging and are staying onsite once again. Yea!!!

We do what many do -- travel in the less busy season, breakfast in the room, bring our own water bottles (I love to nearly freeze them, then they stay cooler longer. If you buy them in the park they are lukewarm within a very few minutes), having a late lunch (nearly always less expensive) at the really nice restaurants instead of dinner. We also plan our trips to take best advantage of AP, getting in three (MAYBE four) visits during that 12 month period.

 

[MrsPete]

Sorry, but I can't help "getting moral" as you say. If you know it's against the rules to park at DTD and you do it anyway, it is stealing -- even if it is only $5. Economical is looking for the least expensive way to do what you want legally. Doing something you know is against the rules is wrong.

No budget tips right now -- even though I know a ton of them. I can't seem to get past the idea that "getting moral" is offensive to some people.

 

[jmunguia]

I don't think it is immoral to park at Down Town Disney if anyone is allowed to park there. Ex. someone might want to shop early to avoid crowds, and starts their day with dtd, if they already have a parking space and want to continue their day in another park, so be it. ( is that stealing?) And, if not just anyone is supposed to park in that lot, then they would implement a system to keep others out. We come to this board because we are looking for tips, mostly bargin/budget tips. And on that note, would buying meal vouchers be stealing (you're not paying full price like everyone else and not paying the tip), how about resident discount tix from someone, (maybe friend or relative) for yourself, (you're not a resident) There are so many things that could be manipulated. There is a fine line between "working the system" and stealing. You can go to jail for stealing, you can't go to jail for parking in a lot that the general public can park in.

Anyways, the reason I am on this thread, I'm looking for tips for Disneyland. The DL board seems small and I don't find it as informative as the rest of the website. Am I in the wrong place. I have questions about meal tix at DL. Do they exist for anyone or just for dl vacation packages like someone here mentioned?

Please don't get me wrong, I'm not a rude person but we all come here to get the best of deals, tips and time savers. I think calling that stealing, is extreme. If WDW has a policy about this that they make known to everyone, then maybe there is something else to be said, but stealing is still to much. I never parked at DTD to go to other parks, but I have parked there with no questions. If I decided to "park hop" from there, I would think there is nothing wrong with it. Bottom line... Thanks and someone please let me know if I am in the wrong place or if you can help.

 

[epcotfan]

Originally posted by MrsPete
Sorry, but I can't help "getting moral" as you say. If you know it's against the rules to park at DTD and you do it anyway, it is stealing -- even if it is only $5. Economical is looking for the least expensive way to do what you want legally. Doing something you know is against the rules is wrong.

No budget tips right now -- even though I know a ton of them. I can't seem to get past the idea that "getting moral" is offensive to some people.

Have to agree with MrsPete on this one. There are no direct theme park buses from DTD to prevent people from hogging spaces all day for free. I don't know about anyone else but the lot always seems full to me when I'm there. I'd be PO'ed if I went to park and there weren't spaces because someone left their vehicle there to go to the theme parks.

 

[mad4themouse]

I have to admit that I've written, edited and erased 3 posts to this subject before starting this one. Personally, I do not agree with the OP's suggestion. It's not something that I would try to do anywhere, let alone at WDW.

Having stated that, I think that we all have to agree that the line between "right" and "wrong" can be blurred, change and sometimes disappear. And it does not exist in the same place for everyone.

There are some who would sleep 5 in a room meant for 4.

Some might claim that their 4 year old is not-quite-3 in order to get in for free. Others may have a child who remains 9 years old for a few years so that they don't pay an adult admission fee.

Some will help themselves to what the food court at their resort has to offer, including condiment packets, plasticware & napkins and the microwave ovens.

Don't get me started on the great refillable mugs debate.

Some will call these actions "working the system" and others may refer to it as "cheating" or even "stealing".

The point is this:
We all have our limits and there are lines that some of us will never cross while others will cross them without looking back. We can each choose to accept or disregard another's suggestions but only the individual can answer to themselves whether it is something which is morally correct for them. I'm not here to judge another's choices. I just want to share Disney info with other fans.

 

[TRAPPED-PARENT]

I'd just like to say that for those of you who "push the envelope" on some of these things -- the kids are watching and this is what they will learn.

I personally don't think saving $6 (or whatever) is worth the message you give to your kids!! I'd rather pay the extra money and have my kids learn the correct lesson of honesty and integrity.

 

[jeffemy]

Well... I'm not getting into the morality questions here, just thought this was a good place to find helpful tips and use the ones suited to my family, that said, I was wondering if anyone knew anyting about receiving free restaurant vouchers for previewing the DVC? This is actually something we were interested in learning more about anyway so I thought it was a "budget" kind of tip if true. Anyone have any info?

 

[ticketwm35]

We asked everyone for disney dollars for Xmas and Birthday gifts for ourselve,not for the kids so far we have gotten 100. dollars and we still have 2 more birthdays before we go.I also belong to mypoints and cash in my points for G.C. for the rainforest we eat our big meal at lunch time.

Leslie

 

[kilee]

When we went last April we stayed at the Day's Inn Maingate East, I was able to get an internet rate of $19.99 for the weeknights and $29.99 for the weekends. The hotel was clean and had free transportation to Disney. This was a real budget saver. I actually came home with several hundred dollars, and we spent like crazy.
We are going again this February and the best rate I could get, for the same hotel, is $33.99. This is still better than any rate I was quoted for a disney hotel.

Also, I haven't done it, but the timeshare resorts offer a free breakfast and 2 free tickets to Disney if you listen to their 90 minute sales pitch.

 

[dzneelvr]

kilee
WOW, those rates are fantastic! Let's face it, if you're looking purely from a budget standpoint, on-site Disney will never be able to offer $$ rates like that.
I've always said I'd NEVER go to WDW and not stay onsite, but I have to tell you, if the economy doesn't get any better and my job situation changes for the worst, I will sacrifice staying onsite to just be able to go and enjoy the rest of the Disney magic.


thanks for the tip.

 

[jeffemy]

Kilee, I'm glad to hear you had a clean room- we stayed there several years ago and the place was crawling with roaches. UGH- they sprayed, it didn't help so we ended up leaving. Absolutely horrible and we paid a rate of $59. The worst experience ever!

 

[MELSMICE]

Originally posted by mad4themouse
I prefer to save the money before I go on vacation rather than while I'm there.

This is the best budget advice yet!

My tips -

--save well enough in advance & save extra. I would hate to be on vacation & not be able to have that one great meal because you don't have the extra $100.

--Eat breakfast in the room - not only saves money, but time also. Have a lot of snacks in the room for your mid-day break.

--If you will be spending more than 8 days in WDW over the course of a year get the AP's or PAP's if you do the water parks a lot. If not, always budget for the PH with the most days. The days never expire & the cost will only go up over the years.

--We save Disney $'s between trips & use those specifically for souvenirs. It is like bonus money that we don't have to work into our budget.

--Bring snacks & water bottles into the parks. Again, not only saves time, but money because you don't have to wait in lines for a snack or drink.

I see a lot of posts on this thread about morals & the on-site debate. Personally, moral or not, I couldn't be bothered parking at DTD if I stayed off-site & then took the bus to the parks. To save the $6 for parking you will probably waste an hour or 2 of your time throughout the day - that is not saving anything - just causing aggravation for me.

We have done on-site & off-site. We stayed in budget off-site & nicer hotels off-site. On-site it's usually a FW cabin & most recently CR due to a SoG relocation. Let's just say, you get what you pay for. We definitely prefer on-site & budget for it. I'm not saying I would never stay off-site again, but the farthest off-site hotels I would stay at are on Hotel Blvd. or the HIFS (the newer one). Again, for us, time is money. The convenience & magic of staying on-site is worth every penny for us. Some may think we're crazy, but we've done both & compared both - we prefer on-site.