Disney on a SUPER budget - advice please.

[Diznut]

So my family and I are driving to Disney from CT in May. We are staying off property (Hawthorn Suites) with a full kitchen in our attempt to cut back our food expenses and to have a little more room to groove. Plus is saves us a lot of $$ in lodging.
I'm interested in hearing any other cost cutting tips. Where to purchase our tickets, inexpensive eateries, and general budget wise advice.
We're going the week of May 9th. Anyone been that time and can give an account of crowd levels?
Thanks in advance. :mickey:

[offwego]

Bring your own water to the parks! (buy cases for the room, crystal lights etc if your not straight water people..since your driving you could even plan to purchase it when it's on sale at home and set it aside for the trip, same goes with other snack foods such as bars, goldfish, etc)

Many places (like the backlot express) have a generous lunch serving sandwich. My husband and I find splitting to be both economical and filling (in warm weather in particular)

If your space in your car permits, a slow cooker could be brought along to allow the prep of meals to be dealt with in the AM so you wouldn't be tempted to skip it in the dinner hour. (as you said you have a full kitchen this shouldn't be an issue as it would be in a room)

[Rekenna]

Hi! We are always tightly budgeted people as well (sometimes we get crazy!). Just in case you don't know you can get free ice water (in a cup) at most restaraunts/stands. Once I figured this out I stopped buying bottled water (unless the bottle works best for you).

Also, if you (or your peeps) are into pin trading you can get bulk pins at good prices on ebay. (I will do this next time for my guys and dole out a pin or 2 a day while on vacation so we don't buy pins at the parks). I also buy (or used to before they closed my Disney Store) small items on clearance like stuffed animals, pens/pencils, lite up toys before going to the parks. This way they got souvenirs without paying park prices for them. They were happy with new Disney things, I would place them on their pillows so they would find them when they woke up.

I don't know about discount tickets, other than buying them before you get there.

Don't know if any of this helps. Have fun!:mickey:

[cajundisneyfreak]

How to enjoy disney when you are on a budget? You can purchase your tickets before going.Check out your local disneystore for tickets.Have breakfast in your room before going to the parks.Pack a lunch to take with you.Eat counter service for dinner.It's alot cheaper than table service restaurants.Go to a super wal-mart for food,snack,souvenirs,etc.We did that last trip.The cast member at the front desk highlighted a map to the nearest one.We went a couple of times during our 10 day trip.I hope this helps out.:mickey:

[faline]

Use the Official Ticket Center (http://www.officialticketcenter.com/default.aspx?affid=TC21LBC)to buy your tickets.

[magicofdisney]

At Epcot, Electric Umbrella has the soda stations so you can refill your drinks while eating. They also offer this at Backlot Express at Hollywood Studios.

[princess mommy]

Some counter service restaurants that offer double burger meals allow you to buy an extra bun then you can each have a burger with toppings from the fixin's bar.

[Patricia]

Walmart has Disney t-shirts, hats, stuffies, and souvenirs at lower prices. There is also a Character Outlet store (Disney World and Disney Cruise merchandise) in the Prime outlet Mall.. very close to Downtown Disney.

We found the pre-cooked foods in the Winn Dixie to be a good selection, fruit, sandwich fixings or whole 12 inch subs for $5. We ate a lot of shrimp and salads from here, it was less than or equal to Walmart in most cases. We had a room with only a fridge and ate our own food most of the time. If you get a Win Dixie card when checking out you'll get all the discounts.

[joonyer]

You can bring food into the parks, so make some sandwiches and pack your lunch.

[MaxPower]

I don't want to be negative, but since you are driving and staying off Disney property- don't forget that you will have to pay to park at the parks each day- right now I believe it's $14 per day.

[MarkC]

Just a mile or so east of Downtown Disney and just across the road there is a McDonalds and Taco Bell. You may not want to eat in your room all the time, and their prices are pretty much what all other franchises charge-- no big markups. Eat a big breakfast in your room to keep you going, or see if your motel offers any freebies, i.e. a breakfast. But don't scrimp so much that you can't enjoy your visit either.

[StitchFan#1]

[QUOTE=Patricia;2014370]Walmart has Disney t-shirts, hats, stuffies, and souvenirs at lower prices. There is also a Character Outlet store (Disney World and Disney Cruise merchandise) in the Prime outlet Mall.. very close to Downtown Disney.

That is a perfect way to spend less money on basicaly the same merchendise you would buy at the parksbut mabey a later date! I get pins to trade there so I can get a good pin for the price of the weird one I bought!:mickey:

[forever a child]

You can ask people in the park that are taking photos of their kids/families if they would like a group photo taken together. (Usually it is alway the same parent who takes the photos and is left out). Then once you have taken theirs, you can ask them if they would mind taking yours as a family. It works every time, you get a lot of shots together as a family and you dont have to pay for park group photos... Learned this from my Asian friends visiting the states :)

[bruin1344]

ive been a week a later than that, great time of year, low crowds, lack of rain, and not too hot

there are plenty of good counterservices, especially epcot, if you are looking to not cook a night

bring down a water bottle and buy some 1 gallon water and fill the water bottles up with it

[bkfree]

Did not know that about the ice water for free. Thanks, I am not a bottle water buyer.

[Tink#64]

We've done early - mid May 4 times & it's fantastic! We've experienced great weather - high's in the 80's & some cooler nights that we wore jeans & wore a light jacket. Some early mornings a jacket would have been nice, but didn't want to end up carrying & it warmed up quickly. Not a lot of rain, but toting a disposal poncho is advisable. We've always enjoyed low crowds & been able to visit all attractions with no more than a 20 min sb line or by using fp.

I am VERY frugal, even if we have a larger budget, I'd rather use $'s for souvenears or more fun rather than just going for broke. We always eat breafast in the room, but we all carry our personal packs with snacks, cereal bars, granola bars, other snacks that don't crush/crumble easily or melt & we graze from these all day! DH & I each carry a water bottle that we refill as needed from the water fountains. I also carry packs of crystal light or koolaid if we get tired of plain water. We only buy cokes with meals or get our mugs refilled at the resort.

We're also driving this year which is a bonus! We can pack all that we want without extra baggage charges! This means we'll be bringing a cooler that we can refill with ice everyday rather than paying for the fridge in the room! Also we can bring more snack & breakfast items! This too saves what we would have spent to have one of the grocery services bring us some items that I wouldn't have in our checked baggage!

Our last trip we also didn't purchase the hopper option, but DH & I have both agreed that we'll get it this trip & we'll see how much we use it. We don't hop that much, but gosh the flexibility is sure nice.

Happy Planning! :mickey:

[Rekenna]

Did not know that about the ice water for free. Thanks, I am not a bottle water buyer.

When I first read that tip, here on Intercot, I thought No Way! Why would they give ice water for free? But, then I thought-of course they do, they don't want you becoming dehydrated or passing out and leaving the parks.

We take advantage of this tip every trip. :mickey:

[mom2Z&A]

If you have Disney Store in somewhat close proximity to you, check there for souvenirs and shirts. We just went to our local Disney Store yesterday! Bought our DD7 her Disney Shirts for $2.99!!! :D They also had adult shirts too for $4.99!! Definitely check your local Disney Store or Walmart!

[MaxPower]

At Epcot, near the fountain behind Spaceship Earth is a Coca Cola shop where you can taste sodas from around the world for free. It is VERY popular and a great place to go get some free soda.

[joonyer]

At Epcot, near the fountain behind Spaceship Earth is a Coca Cola shop where you can taste sodas from around the world for free. It is VERY popular and a great place to go get some free soda.

Yeah, especially that yummy "Beverly" flavor! :thumbsup::secret:

[dnickels]

There's also free water from the drinking fountains. Cheaper and better for the environment than bottled, and much much better for your teeth and body than soda. :thumbsup:

[Goofy Pluto]

I haven't done this in a while, but I used to buy one bottle of water, keep it, and then refill it in the water fountains. Worked great for me!

[eeyorepoohfan]

We always take a Camelback with us to Disney. We fill it with a lot of ice and some water before we head out in the morning. This helps us to stay hydrated all day, even in lines! Plus, the pack allows us to store snacks and other misc items in it. :high5:

Since you will be driving, packing lunches will be helpful.

If you head to Downtown Disney, Earl of Sandwhich is very yummy and very reasonable on prices! Freshly made salads and sandwhiches for just under $6 each. Portions are large, especially for me and hubby, and could have shared. And there are free refills!!! We would share at some of the counter service restaurants because we just couldn't eat all of the food. If you eat at Animal Kingdom, go to Flametree BBQ. The portions are huge and very good. We made the mistake of getting our own meals here and had so much food left. Hubby got ribs and I got chicken, both were wonderful though! :eat:

If you need soda, try eating at a place with free refills. Electric Umbrella at EPCOT. Backlot Studios at Hollywood Studios.

[momofdisneyprincess]

Check out orlandocoupons.com. Since you are staying offsite, you will find many useful coupons here.

[NewDVCowner]

I have to agree with the pin trading idea. A couple of years ago I was going to Disneyland with my sister and she decided she wanted to try it. She went onto ebay and bought some pins and gave me half of them. Not only can you get them for $1 or less, but you get a great keepsake when you trade the not so great one for one you fall in love with. I also noticed that I spent so much time in the stores looking for castmembers with lanyards that I wasn't looking at all the stuff they were selling. I hardly bought anything in those stores because I just wasn't looking at it.

Also in terms of pictures any cast member will take your picture for you with your own camera, even the photopass photographers. Just let them take your picture with theirs and then hand them yours.

[MoreMickey]

Our last trip we also didn't purchase the hopper option, y:

This is the first thing I tell family and friends when they come down to visit. If you can commit to one park a day you can save a lot of money.

My kids press coins instead of buying toys inside the park. That way they are fullfilling that need to get something new and it's a lot cheaper and it's something they can do several times.

I also make cookies before we go, wrap them in parchment and seal with a disney sticker from the dollar store. My kids still haven't caught on that these are not "disney' cookies.:D