What's the Worst Disney Budget Advice You Ever Got?

[Cinderella94]

Of course that worked for you and not the previous poster. The PP bought 5 mugs for 5 people, as they are supposed to be used, and found them to be a waste of money. You on the other hand, bought only 2 for a family of 5. Are you actually bragging about money saved by not following the rules? Unless the rules have changed since I wasted money on those mugs...

I don't have an opinion on this either way, but I believe the only rules that are stated on the signs by the drink stations are "for the length of this current stay" and "at the resort where they were purchased."

 

[disneyofcourse]

People at work kept telling me to fly.

"What would you rather have, 19 hours in the car, or fly and be there in 2 hours?"

I chose to drive 19 hours because we would actually get there earlier!

No matter what, we were arriving in Disneyworld on Saturday and leaving the following Saturday. The vacation time isn't any big deal, I have 4 weeks and my wife can take off what she wants (doesn't get paid for it all, but doesn't get paid much anyways.)

Flying we would get up at 6 am to get the kids ready, 2+ hours to the airport, and the earliest flight I could find was 10 am. I could only find a layover in Atlanta (I think) and we would arrive at Orlando around 6 pm. Then there would be finding baggage, getting to the resort, checking in, lugging everything up to the room, etc, etc. Sure the actual in air flight time would be 2-2.5 hours, but overall, much longer.

Driving, we left a day early at 4 am. Had a fantastic drive, West Virginia and Virginia is beautiful and we didn't hear a peep out of the kids (6 and 9) the entire trip. Stopped in Savannah overnight around 6 pm. Left at 7 am from Savannah and by noon my kids were standing in front of the castle at Magic Kingdom. Got a text message around 3 pm that the room was ready, ate dinner in MK around 5-6 pm, ran back to the resort to unload the luggage from the car, and was back in MK watching the fireworks.

Glad you had just a great time! I have to say driving was indeed the best decision. Taking a plane used to be pretty good, but now, its such a drag.

 

[torinsmom]

I don't have an opinion on this either way, but I believe the only rules that are stated on the signs by the drink stations are "for the length of this current stay" and "at the resort where they were purchased."

We did this too, and if I was breaking the rules, oh well. I brought a mug from home, filled the refillable mug I bought with soda, then poured it into my mug, then refilled it with slushy for my son. I figure it was no different than drinking a mug of soda and then getting slushy. We didn't use the machines very much, so it evened out. I didn't see anything that said one mug per person.

 

[fortwildernessishome]

Of course that worked for you and not the previous poster. The PP bought 5 mugs for 5 people, as they are supposed to be used, and found them to be a waste of money. You on the other hand, bought only 2 for a family of 5. Are you actually bragging about money saved by not following the rules? Unless the rules have changed since I wasted money on those mugs...

I am unaware of this "rule"......where does it say one mug per person??? I am just curious....It makes sense that each person would want their own mug, I have just never seen this "rule" anywhere.

 

[livie1205]

no where does it say that each person has to have their own mug...it is NOT stealing, as long as they are only filling the mug they purchased...If my dh and I were going alone we would only get one because we do not drink alot of soda....it would not be used alot so I would not buy two.

 

[maxiesmom]

Of course that worked for you and not the previous poster. The PP bought 5 mugs for 5 people, as they are supposed to be used, and found them to be a waste of money. You on the other hand, bought only 2 for a family of 5. Are you actually bragging about money saved by not following the rules? Unless the rules have changed since I wasted money on those mugs...

And until the day Disney starts marketing them as Family Mugs, common sense would dictate that it is a mug for each person. Not one for the family. I can't believe people actually think they need to post a sign explaining this!

I would never go to Burger King with a bunch of people, only get one soda to share, and then go back to the dispenser to keep refilling it. Talk about tacky!

 

[pigletto]

Oh Goody.. let's fight about mugs now. Just out of curiosity .. is there anything on this flipping board that doesn't errupt into a judgement fest these days?

For those of you that drive.. we are considering it. It's about 24 hours and I have really been dragging my heels about it. However, seeing posts where people not only did it, but did it happily is encouraging.

 

[ceemys]

I take any advice and filter through what will work for my family.

We use the mugs and we love them! Everyone gets one. We use them in the morning for coffee/hot chocolate and in the evening when we get back from the park. I have my mugs from 2006 and LOVE them. Everytime I use them I remember the good times on vacation. The $$ I pay for the coffee mugs are worth it.

We love the DDP. I got to as many character dinings as possible so it works for us.

Park hoppers....not for us. There are so many things that we just love to enjoy each park and take it in.

ONSITE all the way for us! We love riding the bus back and having the food court just a minute away for our last minute fill up. Walking past the big Pongo, Woody and Mickey at the pool. Just magical for us.

 

[jamiesmom07]

Unfortunately Pigletto - I don't think so

 

[Cinderella94]

And until the day Disney starts marketing them as Family Mugs, common sense would dictate that it is a mug for each person. Not one for the family. I can't believe people actually think they need to post a sign explaining this!

I would never go to Burger King with a bunch of people, only get one soda to share, and then go back to the dispenser to keep refilling it. Talk about tacky!

One would hope not, but this thread (or any mug/pool hopping/other topic of DIS controversy thread) is a great example of how if Disney wants something done a certain way, they need to explicitly state it.

 

[ChisJo]

I have tons and tons of advice that I've tried and been a waste of my time:

1) bringing a bandana and putting it on your car so it makes it easier to find after a day in the parks....stupid idea....never did it and wasted money on a bandana that I will never use

2) bringing an extra pair of socks & shoes into the park to change halfway through the day...ain't gonna happen...and then I have to lug those around

3) bringing snacks into the park. this does work if you bring something that isn't going to melt, but ie: chocolate and gummy snacks aren't going to work. Unfortunately, thats what I brought.

4) not bringing ponchos as disney has their own. Well...I can get the exact same ponchos at my dollar store down the street for $1, and not have to spend $8 on one from Disney (or however much they are now). And, they are disposable...I just toss them at the end of the day if I use them.

5) filtered water bottles...these were a pain in my a**. And besides, the water tastes fine in Orlando...try drinking the water in third world countries...you appreciate the water in North America a lot more. We now bring camel pack back packs into the parks, and they work great, and carry 4 litres of water.

6) bringing a first aid kit into the park...thats why there are first aid stations!

7) walkie talkies...didn't work for us...too many people on the same channels. Now we just text.

8) staying offsite was the best advice we got...saves us TONS of money, and we don't feel smothered by Disney. We aren't big eaters, so the dining plan would be a waste of money for us too. We eat breakfast in our room - takes us 10 minutes to eat some cereal and fruit and make my own coffee, or 60+ minutes in a restaurant. I wouldn't find that fun in the morning. Plus, then we have our own car, and we can get out of Disney for a bit in the afternoon and go to an offsite restaurant and enjoy some healthier options for a much lower price than disney. Even though I'm on vacation, I think I can spoil myself in other ways than spending all my vacation money on Disney.

9) Bringing games to play...waste of time.

10) bringing guide books...do you ever really take those out when you are on vacation? no....they are just extra weight that you carry around. And besides, we use mu iphone to look online for the things we need. And being prepared is key.

11) bringing an umbrella into the park...enough said.

I will agree with someone else about the over the door hanger for the hotel room...that's genius.

I bring about half of the clothes I normally would because I just go shopping and its easier. Plus with staying offsite, we do laundry in our condo.

 

[maxiesmom]

Oh Goody.. let's fight about mugs now. Just out of curiosity .. is there anything on this flipping board that doesn't errupt into a judgement fest these days?

For those of you that drive.. we are considering it. It's about 24 hours and I have really been dragging my heels about it. However, seeing posts where people not only did it, but did it happily is encouraging.

I don't want to fight about mugs. However, I see it from the other side: Why can't people do what is right, even when it comes to saving a few $$? Why is it about saving a few bucks that make people throw common sense out the window?

I really don't want this thread to go down hill. Maybe we should just agree to disagree.

 

[Disney-Chick]

Oh Goody.. let's fight about mugs now. Just out of curiosity .. is there anything on this flipping board that doesn't errupt into a judgement fest these days?

For those of you that drive.. we are considering it. It's about 24 hours and I have really been dragging my heels about it. However, seeing posts where people not only did it, but did it happily is encouraging.

I agree that fighting over mugs is silly. In the end people do what they want. I really don't care if you bring your own mug or share. It doesn't affect me (and the amount of money they spend on pop some sharing will not hurt). But to each it's own I guess.

Anyways, Pigletto; I just wanted to comment about the drive. I drive from Nova Scotia (33-36 hours) and I LOVE it. I get to see the sights as my DH does all the driving, runs in his family. But there are times I would like to drive but don't. I can't read or watch movies while driving as I get car sick, but I rest and watch the other drivers. Some people are crazy drivers...and then I see how many cop cars I can count and how close we come to getting caught speeding (only twice I might add and we drove 6 times).

Happy Tuesday

 

[maxiesmom]

As far as driving vs flying goes, for us, it comes down to how much money would be saved. And with the price of gas being what it is, it isn't a ton. Last time I used AAA's program that estimates fuel cost, it came back at over $500 for a trip to WDW. Just in gas!

We would never drive straight thru, so add to that around $150 total for a hotel each way. Then another $50 or so in food (we don't have enough room for a big cooler in the car) and we are already up over $700 to drive there and back. Plus that still doesn't factor in wear and tear on the car.

When I can still find round trip tickets for about $200 a person it just makes sense to fly to WDW.

 

[Disney-Chick]

As far as driving vs flying goes, for us, it comes down to how much money would be saved. And with the price of gas being what it is, it isn't a ton. Last time I used AAA's program that estimates fuel cost, it came back at over $500 for a trip to WDW. Just in gas!

We would never drive straight thru, so add to that around $150 total for a hotel each way. Then another $50 or so in food (we don't have enough room for a big cooler in the car) and we are already up over $700 to drive there and back. Plus that still doesn't factor in wear and tear on the car.

When I can still find round trip tickets for about $200 a person it just makes sense to fly to WDW.

I agree with you on this. Driving is done for both the savings and other adventures that others would like to do. But for us gas/hotel/food is way cheaper. I just did a search and to fly out tomorrow (round trip) would be $435 pp x 3 and now they have you paying for ALL your luggage what is up with that?!?!? Ahhh how they are making it hard for Disney Lover's

 

[ChrisinNJ]

Didn't read all the responses, but the worst advice I ever got was to get Park Hopper Passes. We spent the extra money for them on our first trip, and never park hopped once.

I am NOT saying that park hoppers are a bad idea for everyone, but we are a 1 park per day family, so they were a waste of money for us.

 

[ssawka]

Didn't read all the responses, but the worst advice I ever got was to get Park Hopper Passes. We spent the extra money for them on our first trip, and never park hopped once.

I am NOT saying that park hoppers are a bad idea for everyone, but we are a 1 park per day family, so they were a waste of money for us.

I think to get park hoppers or not depends on where you are staying. If you stay at a resort that is walking distance from a park (CR/BLT, BC, YC, BW) then the park hoppers are handy, if not then it wouldn't matter to us.

 

[ChrisinNJ]

I think to get park hoppers or not depends on where you are staying. If you stay at a resort that is walking distance from a park (CR/BLT, BC, YC, BW) then the park hoppers are handy, if not then it wouldn't matter to us.

We always stay off property.

 

[tlbwriter]

I always assumed the refillable mugs were like a buffet - you pay for each person, even if there isn't a sign explicitly stating you must do so. Also, the idea of going back and forth to get refills just so you can get by with fewer mugs sounds really tedious to me.

 

[ChrisinNJ]

As far as driving vs flying goes, for us, it comes down to how much money would be saved. And with the price of gas being what it is, it isn't a ton. Last time I used AAA's program that estimates fuel cost, it came back at over $500 for a trip to WDW. Just in gas!

We would never drive straight thru, so add to that around $150 total for a hotel each way. Then another $50 or so in food (we don't have enough room for a big cooler in the car) and we are already up over $700 to drive there and back. Plus that still doesn't factor in wear and tear on the car.

When I can still find round trip tickets for about $200 a person it just makes sense to fly to WDW.

I think this is a decision that each individual family has to weigh out.

It really depends on how many people are going. For us, we are a family of five. We drove to disney last November. It cost us $350.00 in gas. We did not stay overnight, so no hotel cost. Even with wear & tear on the car, there is no way we could have gotten the 5 of us there cheaper than that.

Add to that, we rent a townhouse off property. Driving meant we were able to bring most of our groceries (cereal, detergent, snacks, water etc. all bought on sales with coupons up here) for an additional overall savings. We time our travel so the the kids sleep for much of the ride, and none of us minds being in the car that long, so it works for us on all levels.

If the price of gas doubles from our last trip & it costs us $700.00 next time, it is still cheaper than 5 airline tickets, plus the cost of luggage & rental car (we stay off property).

However, if just my husband & I were going, or if we had only 1 child, then yes flying does end up being cheaper and easier.

Our friends went the same week we did. They drove down in their motorhome. There was 8 of them, 5 staying in the MH in the disney campground, 3 staying at one of the value resorts. It cost them $750.00 in gas for the trip, but that money got 8 of them there in comfort, without having to rent a hotel, so it was worth it for them.