Disney on a budget.....

[tink'72]

We have our annual trip to Disney coming up in July. There are 6 of us, Me, DH, DD 11, DS15, DS 5 and my dad. I planned on a budget of about $6000.00. I was just informed my daughter needs braces and the dentist needs $1000.00 down. So there goes my Disney money.
How do you budget for Disney without going overboard? I can't figure it out. We stay off property each year , have a great deal on a house for 12 days only $1000.00 , Can't beat it.
The tickets are about $1400.00 for the 6 of us and we drive so I figure 1000.00 (total) for travel. Gas, lodging etc.
Where else can I save money? I'm going to cut out our dinners but we do need to eat and I'm stumped. How do people do Disney on a budget?

[wkanack]

Hi, if it is at all possible try to eat all your meals at the house your renting. Grocery shop at the nearest Walmart supercenter or the Publix grocery stores. There prices are the most reasonable.

Have you already purchased your passes? If not try cutting back on the number of days and spend a day or two at your rental house around the pool.

Good luck, Bill

[Deesdisney]

I would say you could save money on the days at the parks. Also take ice chest and do picnics on the drive to WDW. My DD loves this. I also the very first year took an ice chest to the park and at lunch went out to the car and got the picnic and sat on the lawn in front of the parks. Take along a blanket. We had one meal in the parks which lowered our cost about $140 a day for 6 of us. Maybe with this you could have at least one nice meal. Your situation sounds like mine. Except I had two kids that needed braces. There is always ways to deal with the budget. Have a great time.

[offwego]

For the drive etc do you have any reward programs you could use towards that cost?

Airmiles, gift cards or whatever that can be gotten for gas, restuarants, hotel stay during drive down or back could really reduce that portion of your budget.

Can you increase your budget via a garage sale, ebay or decreasing entertainment spending now? (say if you normally have a dinner friday nights out for 40 get a pizza for 20 instead and save the 20 etc)

Can your kids do babysitting, yardwork to create spending money of their own?

[ISLE39]

you can always start now. by this i mean start shopping for your trip get a list together now. lets say sunblock and clothing etc. and start buying the stuff you can now ponchos at your dollar store, glow sticks your kids will want at the parks at your local dollar store, your sunblock. when it comes closer bring your own soda and watre into the parks. a bottle of dasani is 2$ at the parks you can spend 4 on a case of 24. you can bring 2 liter bottles of soda in with you with cups. you definitly want to make sur eyou have your list down to a t because if you forget at home things like batteries or aspirin or bandaids or medicines ponchos, bathing suits you will pay an arm and a leg at disney. get a list together and start a few things each week.

[bouncer]

Lots of great ideas here. One thing we did was grab peanut butter, jelly, bread, snack pack size chips/goldfish & juice boxes and bottled water. Our hotel had continental breakfast. So we had a free breakfast, brought our lunch, drinks and snacks and planned on getting a burger or something relatively inexpensive for dinner. I think we had 2 character meals (chef mickey's & crystal palace) for the whole trip and only did that because the kids had never been to WDW.
Also, if you are using your Disney Visa to pay for the braces etc. maybe you'll have enough points to pay for all your souvenirs. Good luck with your challenge. You may find it fun trying to find the hidden discounts just like Hidden Mickeys. :mickey::thumbsup:

[tink'72]

Thank you! These are great tips! I've thought about cutting back on the days but a 7 day pass is only like $7.00 cheaper per ticket. That's why I decided on the 10 day ticket.
I did start cutting back on eating out at home. Every time I go to eat out I throw the money in the savings account. I figure that has to add up.

I love the idea about start shopping now. I think I'm going to do that. I also just read about the photpass card for $100.00 . That's awesome I figure that would save us a ton as well.
Thanks for the tips...Keep em comin'

[Patty]

Another idea, although time is running short for this one is everytime you go to the store or whatever, do not give exact change. At the end of the day everyone empties there coins into a jar. I did this one year before a Disney trip and saved almost 1000.00. Although it took a year to get that much, you would be suprised how quickly it adds up.

[KineGirl]

I agree about the change saving (we do this too) and the Dollar Store tips. I do both each year and as a matter of fact I just did a round of Dollar Store shopping where I got a ton of glow sticks, some Disney coloring books & crayons, tiaras, pirate guns & swords, (2) Tigger & Roo photo albums, photo paper. Disney stamps & ink, Disney stickers, sunblock, extra poncho and a travel candle. - all for about $25. We also take our $1 bills at the end of the day and put those in a jar. It really adds up! We are taking DD17 this year so every little bit helps!!

[Coccinelle]

To make our trip as long as possible (10 days...in my dream vacation!) and...as inexpensive as possible, we decided to drive from Quebec to Walt Disney and then we will be camping in Fort Wilderness (hopefully in 2009 ...). This way, we can stay on Disney property (but since we are 5, we can't go to the value ressort) for not too much money....and we love camping anyway. And to tell you the truth...even if i am scared to death of snakes(but my very brave husband will be there to protect me and play the hero!)...i want to be in Fort Wilderness because it seem so beautiful ...and i want to do the camp fire thing with Chip and Dale....hum...what a big baby am i !!!!I am slowly buing things we will need (sleeping bags were a christmas gift for exemple, the kids old ones became too small ) were they are on sale .So... thats it...my budget is 5 000$ and i hope nothing will go wrong with our home and our health so we can finally go!!!! I wish you a very wonderfull trip!

[g8rgirl29]

We did a big yard sale to supplement our spending cash last year, it was a lot of work but a great return. Since 3 of us in the house have cell phones we switched to an unlimited share plan and got rid of our home phone, which saved about $30/mo. Not to mention it cut out those pesky marketing calls at dinnertime. We do the change jar too. I also pay for gas with a debit/credit card at the pump and never go in to pay because you almost always end up buying gum, soda or more. I have been buying little things on clearance at the Disney Store for surprises for my DD while we are at Disney. I am also planning on freezing muffins to throw in our suitcase for our breakfasts. I am debating a grocery delivery service or trip to winn-dixie, you can request their card online. You could bag up snacks at home and put them in a hard plastic container so they won't get crushed in the suitcase. You have to get creative and plan ahead. Good luck and I hope you have a wonderful trip!

[Momto3littlemice]

I read a book before our last trip entitled "Disney on a Dime" which I thought went a little overboard but all in all had a lot of interesting money saving tips. You might check it out of your library and see what you can find. Here are a few of my budget tips:

1. Eat breakfast in your room/house and take sandwiches for lunch to the park.
2. Any of the table service meals you want to do should be at lunchtime where you can get out of the sun and enjoy a good meal for cheaper prices.
3. Take along glow sticks, squirt bottles, rain ponchos etc.
4. Take a few boxes of granola bars with you so when the kids (or you) need a pick me up you can just get those out and not stop for an expensive snack for 6.
5. Take refillable water bottles and fill them with good drinking water at the parks or at your hotel. (I might not fill them from the sink in your hotel room...not always the best water)
6. Have the kids put Disney Dollars on their birthday lists before the trip. Any relatives can get them at the Disney Store and that is their souvenir money.


I really think $5000 should be more than enough if you don't go too crazy and look at it this way... the magic comes with price of admission :mickey:

[KineGirl]

I just thought of something else we do and it saves us a little pocket cash on the way down & back. I normally steer clear of fastfood but when travelling you eat whats there. I save all the fast food coupons, including Starbucks (mmm) that are good through our trip to & back from WDW. I put them all in an envelope and when we're driving and have to eat roadside I usually have coupons for the particular fast food place. I save them all because you dont always know whats at the next exit when youre hungry. We drove one year with 5 ppl .. it adds up!

I also utilize my coupons (say like for batteries, chips, soda, etc..) by instead of using them just the next time I go to the store or right before the trip, I watch for that particular item to go on sale and then buy it then using my coupons.

Also the night before we leave I sometimes make a big batch of fried chicken(mostly legs as they are easiest to handle in the car) and bisquits. They travel well in the cooler (chix) and brown paper bag ( bisquits ). Its good for a meal if not 2 on the road. Dont forget to bring a few grocery bags for trash too!

[DisneyDudet]

Remember, that there is a parking fee at the parks, and you can go in and out and go to different parks all day for the one price.

I like the idea of bringing an ice chest and having a snack in the car or on the lawn in the parking lot. Just not to get your bread soggy, don't make your sandwich until you are going to eat them. Bring everything seperately and make them.

You can do your park passes as base tickets to save some money as well. I don't know if this is an option for you, but if this can make or break a trip, going to one park a day would be better than no trip at all! 10 day is a lot, so heading back to the house to have an early dinner and a swim will not really cut out a lot of park time, so you can do that in your afternoons to keep up the energy!

Also, check out the souvies at the Wal Mart near WDW. They have some pretty cute shirts and lanyards. This can help save some moolah!

Also, instead of birthday presents for you and your family, why not ask for gift cards to Wal-Mart, gas stations (especially!), even WDW to help defray the costs somewhat.

Just keep checking the prices of everything. Your biggest costs will be tickets and your lodging. For lodging on the way, check out expedia, hotwire, or other travel discount websites to see if a hotel near a stopping point might have some discounted rates. Or, if you are really daring, attempt to drive and sleep in shifts, so stopping may not be needed, or not as many stops may be needed.

Check out some books like Disney on a Dime for some money saving tips!

[cajunbaby1]

The dollar tree is the best place to get all those great throw away items like cups and plates. You can also pick up some cool pool/beach toys. I bought some of those foam pool sticks that the kids like to hit each other with there. Coupons for fast food places or even like pizza hut helps. Save those pepsi caps that say buy 1 get 1 free. Those are great for stops on your drive. Gotta take a cooler for lunch meat, yogurts etc. That can help out when some one gets the muchies at the hotel room; saves on hitting those overpriced vending machines at night. Even some of the welcome centers on the interstate have free fountain drinks or coffee and all they want is for you to sign their visitor log. Don't forget they often also have free maps and discount coupon books for area attractions or hotels.

[mrsgaribaldi]

Another idea, although time is running short for this one is everytime you go to the store or whatever, do not give exact change. At the end of the day everyone empties there coins into a jar. I did this one year before a Disney trip and saved almost 1000.00. Although it took a year to get that much, you would be suprised how quickly it adds up.


I do this with singles, fives and tens too. Every now and then I throw in a 20 also. I've been doing this for years. The singles alone really add up.
We also share meals so nothing is wasted. We also eat breakfast in the room and bring soda and water with us to the parks. They are so expensive it helps to save alittle.

[Brainiak5]

lots of excellent tips here! you guys could do my job in trying to get my clients to save!

our change jar is dedicated to the disney savings account. we also eliminated going out to the movies - we watch as a family on dvd now. even matinees are too expensive these days.

the going out for dinner night has become family cooking night- everyone helps prepare the meal on saturdays and its now a family activity and the money savings are significant.

we belong to aaa and eliminated the gas credit card and use the card that gives a discount or cash back- 5% automatic reduction in gas prices now adds up fast.

theres lots of great ideas here and im sure you'll have a great time :mickey:

[Young@Heart]

We also drive down, and found there are lots of ways to save some $$ this way. We belong to AAA, so we plan a few stopping options on the way, finding motels that will allow 5 guests/room and offer a AAA discount. We also bring sandwiches and beverages in a cooler, plus lots of snacks and breakfast foods, so we don't have to stop for expensive food along the way.

We also do breakfast in our hotel room almost every day. We always get the DDP, but that only covers 2 meals/day. If we're not doing a breakfast buffet, this saves us from purchasing a meal out-of-pocket.

I'm not sure how old your DC are, but my DC are 5, 12, and 13. My 12 and 13 yo get a lot more for allowance than the 5 yo. So, they each put about half of their allowance toward their pre-paid Disney gift card each week.

We've also cut down on take-out and eating out, and use holidays to buy special Disney things (like pins for trading or special clothes for the trip).

[Spacegirl]

We do Mypoints throughout the year and we just had enough to get $125 worth of gas cards. We are also staying at decent but cheap hotel ($45 a night) with free breakfast. We are getting the base tickets this year to save money too. Eating out is not bad if you get stuff off of the dollar menu but if you are in the parks then you have to compromise a little like splitting a double burger and getting an extra order of fries. This works great when it is hot because I am never that hungry when it is 90 degrees outside! Limiting one meal at the park is a good option as well. We always set a budget and stick to it. With gas $125 ($125 free cards), hotel $325, tickets $830 (5 days), food $500, and souvenirs $200-300 for a family of 4 we should come out just over $2000. We never really spend much more then this. Of course, there is always a few extras like parking but as you can see, one can save a lot with planning.