what can you do without speding $$$ at the park

[Sharpie]

what are your tricks and tips in going to the park with a very tight budget ?

TIA
Sharon

 

[clandrum]

When I take my mom we split meals. We only take one bottle of water each for the day and refill it but since the water tastes different we bring flover packets. My daughter earns Didney dollars throughout the year and she can only spend them she also waits till the last day so she knows what she really wants to buy. I am also tryin this year to eat twice in our room since we are staying at the ASMU family suites. It might be a little wrong but if I am not very hungry I get kids meals.

 

[Sharpie]

When I take my mom we split meals. We only take one bottle of water each for the day and refill it but since the water tastes different we bring flover packets. My daughter earns Didney dollars throughout the year and she can only spend them she also waits till the last day so she knows what she really wants to buy. I am also tryin this year to eat twice in our room since we are staying at the ASMU family suites. It might be a little wrong but if I am not very hungry I get kids meals.

this is an awesome idea can you do that at table service restaurants?

 

[TimTanyaMichael]

Yes, we have never had a problem splitting table service meals. They are very hospitable, no matter what. Bring your own snacks, we often do this due to the fact that I'm diabetic, and its WWWAAAAYYYY cheaper. We do the same thing with water bottles. Those flavor packets are GREAT!!! We have actually had people stop and ask us where we got Cheez-Its, or a Slim Jim, Little Debbie's are a wonderful, inexpensive snack!!!! Have fun!!!!

 

[pednurse]

For food savings.....we packed a small suitcase with breakfast & snack items (then used that suitcase to pack souveniers in for the trip home!). We always ate breakfast in the room before heading out for the day. Also, my DD doesn't have a very big appetite (she's 5), so at counter service meals (we only ate counter service meals the entire time because it worked out cheaper than the dining plan....plus our picky eaters wouldn't have had much to do with most of the options at TS restaurants) I, DH, or DS (9) would order a double cheeseburger with an extra bun (the extra bun cost 60 cents) and then put the extra meat patty on the extra bun....ta da! A second cheeseburger sandwich for 60 cents! DD would then have that sandwich. Worked out great for us! Also, we saved tons on water.....just ask at any of the CS restaurants or most of the food carts that serve fountain drinks for a cup of ice water. You get the ice water for free! And being chilled and filtered we didn't notice any "off" taste at all. As for other cheap things....riding the trains, boats, buses, and monorail was just as thrilling to my kids as a lot of the other rides as well. You can ask to ride up front with the monorail conductor (pick a less busy time for your best chance that no one else has asked before, and also you may have to wait a train or two if someone is already there)....my kids got a huge thrill out of that.

Have a great trip!

 

[texasteacher35]

Bring small snacks from home, Crystal Light to Go for water bottles...

All the show are free, once you are in the park...

I think most things cost money, that is Disney's big hook! Souvineers and cool stuff todo that is offered NO WHERE ELSE!

Building Legos in DTD...they have a fun play area!...I am not surewhat else, maybe someone else will chime in w/ better ideas! Sorry!

 

[BarbWB]

I can honestly say that with a family of 6, we spend almost zero money in the parks, other than food. Last time, we were on the dining plan, so we spent nothing. My souvenirs are my pictures. I don't buy the other stuff b/c I can buy it later at the Disney store on eBay and then I don't have to cart it home!!!
For us, the best inexpensive souvenirs are pressed pennies. At 51cents each, you can't beat the price!!!! Plus, they are fun to make and collect!!!
As for saving with food, we think WDW meals are HUGE, so split them. If you get a TS meal with fries, IMO, the fries for one meal are enough to feed our entire family. One thing we learned by accident (and then discovered that it was a common "frugal tip") is to split a double cheeseburger! Neither of us like the white bread bun or tons of fries, so we ordered a double burger and each ate one meat patty and one half of the bun and half of the fries. PLENTY of food for us. We also have the kids split their meals at TS places b/c the portions are so huge. Sometimes we order kids' meals and sometimes adult meals ... depends on the place. It is easy to go back and order more if you are still hungry, but I can honestly say no one in our family leaves a WDW restaurant hungry.
We pretty much only drink ice water in the parks. Sometimes, our ds5 will get Sprite, but he is the only one who likes soda. The rest of us prefer plain tap water.
Also, you can ask the concession stands to refill water bottles (the kind with wide mouths we use for sports/school, etc., not regular Dasani-type bottles) with ice water for FREE. If you are going when it is hot, water is much better anyway!
In addition, you can take a small amt of snacks into the parks. I like to take "healthy" snacks like nuts, cheese, apple slices, etc. to balance the multitude of bad food they are going to eat during the day.

 

[texasteacher35]

Oh yeah...I forgot about the pressed pennies! Really fun souvineers! Adorable and I think there are somewhere around 400+ different ones allover WDW parks/resorts/dtd...we are definitely collecting those when we go in Oct!

 

[Sharpie]

I agree that the best souvies are your picture... I cant wait!

 

[thejackattack21]

Once you're in the park, there are VERY few (as in, I can't think of any at all, but I don't want to say there are none and be wrong) attractions that cost extra money. So, you're spending on souvenirs and food. To save on food, all of the above suggestions (splitting meals, bringing food) are great. As long as you can fit it in an average-sized bag, you can bring any food you want into the park, so you may want to bring whole meals in additions to snacks. If you have a car, run by a Publix and get bread, pb&J, chips, fruit, etc... to bring. As for souvenirs, the pressed pennies are an awesome idea, but you can also do what my aunt does with her kids, which is to create a souvenir shop in the hotel. Basically, she gets lower-priced Disney merchandise beforehand (I don't know where from, but probably eBay) and packs it in a seperate bag. The kids know that this is "mommy's toy bag", so they don't touch it, and they are allowed to go "shopping" in the bag once a day. This more than satifisies them; once, I took the kids to the park and offered to get them toys in the regular shops but they refused- they wanted to go home to go shopping in mommy's bag!

Also, most people don't realize that the PhotoPass pictures are free (you can view and e-mail them online for 30 days without a purchase), so take advantage of that! And don't forget to have fun!!

 

[MomofKatie]

I buy Disney items throughout the year whenever I see them on clearance at the Disney Store and put them away for our trips. While in WDW, each day DD comes home to the resort to find that Mickey Mouse (most people call them Tinker Bell gifts- we say that Mickey is the gift-giver) has been there and left her a little gift. Mickey gives her things like spinning lightup toys for after dark fun, Tshirts, PJ Pals, plush toys, and pins for her lanyard. She loves getting these little things, and it saves us from buying all those things at the parks, where they are much more expensive. Of course, DD still has her own spending money for herself, and can buy some things. But, we really save $$ by pre-buying some things.

 

[2manygirls]

buy some glow sticks & other fun toys at the dollar store at home before the trip.

 

[summerrluvv]

Buy kids meals at counter service restaurants (if you don't have a huge appetite). For 3.99 you get the meal, a side or sometimes dessert and a drink. Stay out of the stores!! That's where I blew the budget last time!

 

[texasteacher35]

Buy kids meals at counter service restaurants (if you don't have a huge appetite). For 3.99 you get the meal, a side or sometimes dessert and a drink. Stay out of the stores!! That's where I blew the budget last time!

summerrluvv...adorable pics! Beautiful baby! My babies are growing up too fast dd12 and ds2...way too fast!

 

[summerrluvv]

summerrluvv...adorable pics! Beautiful baby! My babies are growing up too fast dd12 and ds2...way too fast!

Thanks Yes, they do grow up way too fast!

 

[missmun52]

I buy my T-shirts before getting to the parks. You can get them for 2.99 at the disney store when they have their sales. This way no one feels like thet need to buy one once there. Also, I bring snacks and water/sports drinks with me. Bringing your own snacks saves alot of money and when you go home you have room for what ever you buy there.

 

[winniethepoohsmom]

you can also find disney stuff in walmart and the dollar stores and I've also bought new disneyworld t-shirts on ebay. I would also recommend taking things like over the counter meds to avoid buying them in the parks and ponchos and batteries and film if needed they can be very costly in the disney stores. We are shipping a box to the hotel for breakfast stuff and snacks (not only is it cheaper to eat breakfast in the room but we can also get out to the parks quicker) that way we don't have to carry another case, we buy very few souvies while we are there. Linda

 

[sugarlens]

This is not exactly cheap, but have a huge breakfast buffet and you can probably get by without having to eat again for the rest of the day.

 

[DarthKTrava]

This is not exactly cheap, but have a huge breakfast buffet and you can probably get by without having to eat again for the rest of the day.

Or at least until evening.... and breakfast IS cheaper than lunch or dinner....

 

[dyna]

Breakfast in room before heading to the parks with food from home or that you stop an get before getting to disney.

Some of our trips has been very very budgeted we ate either lunch or supper in room an had p/b sandwiches for a week sometimes lunch and supper.

If you go during the cooler months you don't need as much to drink therefore a little cheaper to go then.

We spend very little on food in the parks very little money spent once we in disney that is 1 thing that keeps us going back year after year.