What is your favorite $$ saving tip?

[Jennifer_and_Chris]

We are always looking for great ideas to save some $$ on our Disney trips. What are your favorite ways to cut monetary corners?

I'll share mine....

We go to the outlets the day we check in (time permitting) and do our souviner shopping. We also stop on our last day or on our way home to pick up the stuff that we didn't buy and changed our mind about!!! Many things at the parks are found at the outlets in different colors or are very similar. We love this part of our trip!!!

We also purchase 1 meal and 1 appetizer and split it.

[Momof2boys]

Eat breakfast in your room. Not only a time-saver, all family members can eat at their own pace. We bring granola bars, cereal bars, breakfast cakes, etc . . . we do however sign up for a character breakfast. The money we save not having a huge and expensive breakfast allows us to eat more table service & to buy more souvenirs.

[nell]

We do a big breakfast and a late lunch. We find lunch rates are cheaper than dinner rates. In the evening we do a desert. My son loves this - he thinks it's great to eat ice cream for "dinner". graemlins/tasty.gif

We limit our purchases to just one thing per adult and our son uses his spending money on his own stuff. This year we want new Bass mugs from England (Epcot) for us. We'll buy a thank you gift for my in-laws for cat/house watching. That's it.

We tend to save at home - putting the money aside - skipping dinners out and not buying morning coffee for months so that we can splurge on vacation. I figure that we we can relax a bit and not worry.

52 days graemlins/muscles.gif graemlins/muscles.gif Can you say "excited"??? :D

[Dopey's Girl]

Originally posted by nell:
We do a big breakfast and a late lunch. We find lunch rates are cheaper than dinner rates. In the evening we do a desert. My son loves this - he thinks it's great to eat ice cream for "dinner". graemlins/tasty.gif

This is what I do too! We have a good sized breakfast in the room, and then get the last PS at one of the sit-down places in the parks for lunch. That way we can just have a snack later in the day when we get hungry. Lunch is less expensive, and you can get much of the same selection!

We also belong to AAA. While the discount on rooms isn't huge, it has been all we have been able to get the last 2 trips, and it has saved us enough to be able to stay a bit longer!

[bchmom]

We definately bring groceries. eat breakfast in the room (cereal, pop tarts, etc.) and it saves time as someone said. I also make sandwiches and pack snacks for the day. we still may buy a snack. Then for dinner we got out.

[WeLoveDisney]

Much as the breakfast in the room - I purchase snacks for the rooms as well.

Mostly things like, goldfish, apples, pringles, snack packs (things that wont get smooshed in my luggage) Some I buy at the grocery stop on the way to the hotel, and others I pack.

This is a great thing - when we are in the room late evening and the kids want a snack. Definately a $$ saver.

We also only allow 2 snacks per person per day in the parks. 1 morning snack, and 1 afternoon snack. It definately gets expensive we find we could snack all day long.. and that gets expensive: pretzel, ice cream, slush, fried dough thing (beaver tail..? is that what its called)... but - the kids know - only 2. So, they choose wisely. It works for us anyways. :D

[bwallace]

1. dont buy breakfast
2. Stay in a moderate resort.
3. Don't waste money on impulse souveniers

[Googlie Bear]

Dont waste a whole day's park ticket on your arrival and departure dates, unless youre arriving really early or departing really late. We can find enough to do at WDW without going into the parks every single day, and it saves a lot. I spend the first day exploring the resorts and enjoying our own hotel's amenities, and spend the last day at DTD. This also works well because DTD carries almost every item you may have seen over the course of the trip, and you know exactly what items you really want, how much space is left in the luggage, and how much you have left to spend.

[Mary Poppins fan]

We give the kids Disney Dollars prior to our trip so that they can buy anything they want with them. When their money is gone, it's gone... We found that it saves on those impulse/emotional purchases! (And you would be surprised how thrifty they are when they buy something with their own money.)

[tyandskyesmom]

I've heard about this but have not actually done it yet...

Schedule lunch at buffets (if that is your thing) late and you will pay the lunch price but they will change over the buffet at the alotted time and if planned correctly, you can get the dinner menu also with your lunch prices/choices.

If anyone has done this or does try this please post on how it has worked for you.

[Flower]

graemlins/mickey.gif Buy a case of water off site

graemlins/mickey.gif Split meals/appetizers - portions can be huge!

graemlins/mickey.gif Keep snacks in the room, fruit, granola bars, etc

graemlins/mickey.gif Have breakfast in the room

graemlins/mickey.gif Take laundry soap with you or buy it off-site

[pedro2112]

Don't take your wife.

Just kidding!!!!

:D

[paulaparm]

graemlins/rotfl.gif
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Paula graemlins/mickey.gif

[luvkatiebug]

We do a lot of the things people have already mentioned (being a couple of 2 teachers, who only get to go every 3 years or so):

*breakfast in the room (except for maybe one character breakfast)

*byow (water)
*Limit souveinirs (sp?) for kids to just one "big" one and maybe a t-shirt. As my kids get older, we will probably do the Disney dollars, but mine are too little to get that, yet.

*we save loose change for the years before we go, and Katie and I roll it to use for spending money.

*we bring snack foods, too, but always seems to break down and buy that Mickey ice cream bar or an Itzakadoozie (which we can't buy here!)

*we usually stay at a value resort, or maybe a moderate at most. One day my dream is to stay at the Polynesian for a whole week! Maybe for our anniversary!
:D

[BelleKP]

Originally posted by pedro2112:
Don't take your wife.

Just kidding!!!!

:D graemlins/rotfl.gif graemlins/silly.gif graemlins/rotfl.gif
You sound like my DH!!
graemlins/rotfl.gif graemlins/silly.gif graemlins/rotfl.gif

[princesspower]

We drive so we bring two 24 count packs of bottled water that I have gotten on sale at home! We also bring snacks like prepackaged individual bags of teddy grahams, ritz bits ,fruit snacks,etc. for when the kids want a quick snack!

[DisneyOrlando]

If you live in Canada, but live close to the border, book your flight from the closest US airport, your tickets will be almost half the price. graemlins/mickey.gif

[Golf Grumpy]

The big breakfast in your room is great as well as a late lunch. We try to budget $50 per day per person so $200 a day for food. LOTS of times it is less so there is more $$ for souviners or in my case golf!! LOL.. It takes a few months for us to get the $$ in an account so we will not spend it before we get to WDW.

[wdwfan]

Don't take your husband!! :D graemlins/rotfl.gif
I've actually done this several times!!! graemlins/rotfl.gif graemlins/thumbsup.gif

[PAYROLL PRINCESS]

Bring your own water and soda into the parks. This will save you lots of money! As long as it isn't in glass containers, you won't have any problems. You can ask for cups of ice for free too!

[Harriet]

If you have a car Eat breakfast and dinner off site. This can be a big savings.

[Space Mountain Man]

Drink water.

Buying soda/pop/tonic in the parks means an added $8 or so to the price of lunch for four. Two such meals a day, plus a 'snack' drink, and it's $24 a day you save. 6 days, and it's almost $150 savings.

Plus, it's better for you, even if the Florida water can't compete with that of the natural springs here in New England. graemlins/thumbsup.gif

[syrlead]

We stop at the Publix and by breakfast items, water, Gatorade, snacks, etc. and have breakfast in the room. Have light snacks at the graemlins/mickey.gif graemlins/mickey.gif parks. We pack water and Gatorade for the four of us in the backpacks.

We do not go out early to the parks because we do like to sleep in late, since the remainder of the year our daily routine is hectic. Have a big dinner at the parks or DTD or resort. We save $$$.

[K&A'sMom]

We bring our own disposable rain ponchos (since we go in the summer and there is always rain). Since there are four of us, we save a lot of money. The ponchos we bring cost less than a dollar and we can throw them away each day and use a new one the next.

[cckelly]

Don't take your wife. Off with his head!! ;)

[veela]

Some of this will be repeats, some not...

- We bring a couple bottles of water (the BIG ones) and refill them at drinking fountains throught the parks (we fly in, so we don't have enough room for a case of water, we can only fit like 4 bottles).
- LOTS of snacks - beef jerkey, crackers, chips, cookies, nuts, etc. to bring into the parks. We have a nibble when we leave the resort, have an early-ish lunch (11-11:30) and either get a cheaper meal or split what we get then we have a snack mid-afternoon and eat dinner later on.
- Eat dinner at value dining areas, like Pecos Bill or La Cantina de San Angel... Oh, and your resort food court, of course... Save the fancier restaurants for a few special meals, not an everyday thing...
- If the idea of drinking water at every meal doesn't appeal to you buy one of those mugs for your resort that you can refill countless times.
- Keep an eye on what you want at all the parks while you're there and then hit DTD on the last day to buy what ya want. This way you won't overspend on spur of the moment purchases.
- Bring your own poncho!! graemlins/silly.gif

[DisneyDudet]

We get an annual pass so that we can save money on hotel, next trip, and treasures at WoD.

We shop at the outlet malls.

We eat fast food off site for dinners, like Chik-fil-a.

We have a credit card that has points you rack up. They send a catalog of things you can buy w/ your points. We use the points on a rental car. We haven't had to pay for a car for our last trips and its save a whole heap of $$. This way, when we eat off site, we're saving even more $$!!!

If you see something on sale, buy it, cuz there's a very good chance that it won't be on sale somewhere else.

Buy airline tickets as early as possible. Now, with gas prices so high, we've saved nearly $400 a person by getting our tickets in Jan. for our trip on May 28!

Ask for gift checks, gift certificate, and gift cards for Christmas and birthdays. Save them for the trip. Heck, you can eat at Chili's for nothing if you do that! Pluss most fast food chains have gift certificates, especially around the holidays. There's McDonald's, Chick-fil-a, Taco Bell, Fazoli's.. sky's the limit!

Bring water bottles in the parks... that saves a lot. Eat breakfast in the room.

We only eat one or 2 "disney" meals.. meaning sit down meals... usually its a breakfast buffet, and we try to do a family style or buffet dinner.. that way, you get to eat all you want!

Split even the counter service meals. My dad and i share a chicken strip basket and a large drink so its cheaper. Also, the kids meals are cheaper and fill me up well, especially if you drink as much as i do (water or pop i mean).

Speaking of kids meals, if the meal comes in some sort of suvenier(sp?) case like a box or something, ask if you can just get the meal, there's a good chance you can save money buy not getting it. I've heard that most places will do that for you.

We go to the Dollar Tree (i don't know if its a national chain, but its here in north Texas.) and get supplies for our trip. Everything's a dollar and its not cheapie stuff either. They have name brand shampoos and soaps. They have brushes and stuff. The best thing is they have panchos, and they come in cute colors that are 2 for a dollar. They're disposable, so we'll pack those.

If you live by a Disney Store, secretly buy some stuff for little ones. At night, there's those littke wands that have a character on it and you push a button and lights spin around... they can be expensive in the parks. They sell them at the DS, and I'm sure cheaper. During the night, kids will want one... (i don't have kids, but this is what I'd do), when he starts seeing the kids getting theirs, he'll want one... what you do is go and say you'll be right back, but have it in a bag w/ you. Say gone a while and come back w/ it. That way, he'll get one, and you wouldn't have to spend a lot of money. Same thing w/ stuffed animals and such.

Umm.. i think thats all for now.

[Advnt05]

I have done the trick where you schedule the last lunch seating time and order the buffet. You're first plate will be off the lunch buffet. Shortly they will change to the dinner buffe which you can also eat off. You will only be charged the lunch price. I did this at Norway and enjoyed the salmon at lunch.

[animalkingdomguy]

Buy childrens autograph books off-site. The Wal-mart in Kissimmee has a section of Disney related items. The autograph books have disney characters printed on the covers and are significantly less expensive but just as nice as those sold on property. Also, get a pen large enough for the characters to handle.

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[Tiggerlovr9000]

If you don't like drinking water every meal you can put instant tea in a zip-lock bag and add it to your water. I also bought disney t-shirts on sale at the disney store before we left. The t-shirts were on sale for $4 each.

[jsme]

This year my children are earning their own money to take in June. They have already been told when it is gone there will be no more. Also I have told them we will not buy one thing until the last day. This way they can look at everything and decide what they really want. Even my 10 yo was fine with this. I realize this is not for everyone and we have not actually tried it out, but I am hoping...

[mykidsmom]

When we eat in the parks(fast food)we ask for the meal w/o the chips or fries...saves a couple of dollars per meal...often purchase kids meals for adults, unless hungry for more...Tommorwland Terrace at MK, my son asks for a toasted bun and a side of bacon for $2.10, the goes to the magnificent condiments bar and makes a huge BLT, sometimes a large fresh veggie sandwich..all for 2 bucks!

[mdricks]

We take a small carry on size bag with snacks and fruit in it. Once its gone we use the bag to bring back our souvenirs! (Or more likely our dirty laundry! graemlins/blush.gif )