What was the "Best" Dis board advise you received

[mrsbornkuntry]

I have used alot of tips from here over the years to save our family money at WDW, but here are some of my favorites:

Freezing water bottles to bring into the park.
Getting free ice water in the parks.
Renting a stroller from an outside company instead of Disney.
Dollar Tree!! (that ones a favorite) for ponchos and treats for the kids.
Bringing sharpies for the characters' autographs.
Pin trading and pressed pennies for cheap souvies (and m&m tubes to carry the pennies/quarters).
Make your own lightsabers and the tip about filling up Mr. Potato Head's body with parts before putting it in the box to get more parts.
Baggellini, worth every penny, I use it all the time for school field trips, day trips and of course WDW and other vacations.

And it doesn't save us $$, but convenience: Buying Disney gift cards for the trip. I love being able to sit down and rest a few minutes and giving one of my older children a GC to go get a drink or snack or whatever and not worrying about how much money to hand them.

Not Disney tips:
Dave Ramsey
Tracfone
ING
Slickdeals and coupon code sites
Vinegar and baking soda

And I'm sure there's many more.

 

[xmas16]

You'll need some patience with this one. It will entail signing up for credit cards so you have to be disciplined not to get in over your head. If you are a few years away from planning a Disney trip get the Disney credit card. Over the months and years you will build up points. Scan for airline perks with another credit card. When we went for our first family trip a few years ago, I practically flew for free, did not pay for food either. I went in January, I used Tour Guide Mike, I ordered food online from the Garden grocer to be delivered to our hotel room for breakfasts, snacks, water, soft drinks, even beer and other miscellaneous things. I rented a car cheaply, one of the best things I did. We packed lightly and did one load of laundry while there.

 

[gatormom2tots]

Okay...clearly I'm out of the loop on this one. What in the world is Ridemax?

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2118681&highlight=ridemax



Went last easter to MK using it.....longest line (actually the only line!) we sat in was about 25 minutes for princesses!

 

[MarthaJr.]

Wow...that is a lot of information on the ridemax thread. Can't wrap my brain around it right now, but it may be a consideration. We are only going to the parks 1 day this trip...probably Easter Sunday at MK.

Not sure we really need ridemax as MK has the extra evening hours and on those days we just go do a few things in the am and head back to hotel for lunch, pool lounging, dinner and back to the park about 8pm when a lot of people are starting to leave. We then stay until 1am and do all the rides we want to do with cooler temps and typically less wait times....although last time we went in June and there were still long lines.

 

[cglaura]

Free cups of ice water.

Rewards sites like Sunshine Rewards, Quickrewards, SimpleGPT (paid for 90% of my 15 day trip!!)

Mousesavers/UndercoverTourist

Someone posted a tip to go to the park that had late EMH the night before...theory being it will be less crowded that morning b/c open late the night before. I've been following that type of plan every trip now. I think it works best in off peak times though.

 

[tinkerbell615]

The best advice I ever received on this board is that Fastpasses do not expire until park closing at the end of the day. Completely changed the way we tour - for the better!!!

Okay... I have clearly missed this one. Can someone explain? Thanks!

 

[ktlm]

I've gotten so much fantastic information here over the years, but the absolute best for me personally has been:

Use Body Glide to avoid blisters on your feet. 4 WDW trips and 1 DL trip without even one blister which is absolutely unheard of for me with my extremely sensitive skin. I also use it every time I get a pair of new shoes now, and I rarely get blisters then either. Before, every time I got a new pair of shoes I would get blisters until they were broken in.

 

[PrincessTiffany]

Okay... I have clearly missed this one. Can someone explain? Thanks!

It is not highly publicized, but your Fastpass does not expire until the end of the day. You can never use it before the return time stamp on the pass, but you can always use it after. We try to collect Fastpasses during the early part of the day and then use them later in the afternoon when the parks become more crowded.

Click on this link from fellow Diser Doconeill and it will give you an excellent overview of Fastpass:
http://www.oinc.net/disney/fastpass.php

 

[tinkerbell615]

It is not highly publicized, but your Fastpass does not expire until the end of the day. You can never use it before the return time stamp on the pass, but you can always use it after. We try to collect Fastpasses during the early part of the day and then use them later in the afternoon when the parks become more crowded.

Click on this link from fellow Diser Doconeill and it will give you an excellent overview of Fastpass:
http://www.oinc.net/disney/fastpass.php

Thank you so much. I had no idea. You can not imagine how many fastpasses we have thrown away, because the time was missed.

 

[gillenkl]

Tour Guide Mike

Love TourGuideMike and won't leave home without it!


Getting to the parks at rope drop!

Crocs and Baggalini

Bringing a small towel to sit on during parades - sorry, I don't want to sit where others may spit!

 

[Jen_in_NH]

The best budget thing I found on the DIS was renting DVC points. I had never heard of such a thing, and we did it for our last trip. It was awesome!

Also, someone recommended Keen sandals, and I tried some for all of us (from a clearance sale link on the budget board ). Those shoes are great!