Items you pack that save you money

[kemps@wdw]

All the items you pack save you money. We pack it all. Medicine, breakfast foods, snacks, paper plates, towels, utensils, drinks, adult beverages, toiletries, detergent/softner sheets, even prevoiusly purchased WDW items. The only thing we buy when we get there is milk, bread, and lunchmeat.

[Belster]

I love these lists guys. Thanks for your suggestions...I love the purex one.

[Loweschevy]

Batteries, memory cards and toiletries

[ElenitaB]

I bring a Brita pitcher and filter, and water bottles. The pitcher gets packed with stuff coming and going. Saves a ton of money on bottled water in the parks.

I also pack my own coffee which saves me time, money and having to drink that awful stuff they leave in the rooms.

[BrerGnat]

I bring a Brita pitcher and filter, and water bottles. The pitcher gets packed with stuff coming and going. Saves a ton of money on bottled water in the parks.

This is probably the smartest packing trip I've ever read! What size pitcher do you bring? Will the larger ones fit in the mini fridges???

[magicjasb]

Our last few trips have been in the summer when it rains almost every afternoon. We usually buy cheap rain ponchos at a local dollar store. They are easy to carry and save you money on Disney ponchos. We usually bring a couple for each of us so that we can throw them out if they get ripped.

[azcavalier]

1. Cheap, dollar rain ponchos.

2. Breakfast food (we always have a fridge because we stay at a moderate).

3. A $20 Wal-Mart umbrella stroller. Renting a stroller is outrageous, and they're not comfortable for the kids anyway. umbrella strollers are cheap, more comfortable, easy to fold up and store/carry, and are less bulky.

[mouseketeer mom]

I have medicines for any possible ailment. You name it, I pretty much have it covered. I bring batteries, bandaids, q tips, any kind of toiletrie imaginable, I got it. I have a bag just for my pharmacy. And we are not sickly people or people that take medicine even a little frequently..but we have needed to reach into that case on many a trip. Stomach issues, fever, I even have a prescription bottle of Amoxicllin I bring if anybody gets strep throat or something. I bring a nerf for the pool, purex sheets, rolls of quarters..lint remover rolls, stain sticks. What else?? I am a traveling walmart. And I have it all consolidated to one bag! A small bag that fits in my husbands lightly packed suitcase. I have all hair products, girly stuff for any issue, antibacterial wipes and gels.. I better stop now. I sound crazy!

[buzznwoodysmom]

I bring Purex laundry sheets too. It saves so much compared to buying laundry detergent from the laundry rooms in WDW. I also pack extra hangers for our clothes. And batteries, I pack lots and lots of batteries!

[Pop Centurion]

We usually bring breakfast snacks for in the morning as a pick me up then sometimes at night if we're hungry. Breakfast each morning gets expensive so this is a big saver for us.

[jimsgal05]

okay you ALl will laugh at what we bring... I pack in my large suit case water smart water at Target... for when we are in the parks..I also bring snacks for em I am always hungry, then there is the tupperware..fake stuff i mena for leftovers...we had 7 ADRs thats trip so most of them wern't buffets so any left overs we took back ie dessert...my mom was thrill to eat choc cake at 11pm at night.

this trip in less than 2 weeks we are on a quck service and only 3 nights/3 days.. so no water but we have refillable mugs..I am bringing my tea for the am breakfast to save time and also the tupper wear for snacks at night when watching the fireworks... we always bring meds and bandaids and baby wipes cause ya never know who is going to spill what..and I was there a while back and help a woman wipe up fruit punch her daughter spilled in her carage...she didn't have enough wipes but I did!!! the mom was thrilled....

[joonyer]

We always drive, and since we have a van, we have the luxury of bringing lots of food. We bring cereal, milk, juice, breakfast bars, muffins, and usually have breakfast in our room. We usually only eat out just one character breakfast on our trips. We bring a fairly large ice chest and so we have plenty of room to keep things chilled. That's the advantage of driving over flying.
We also bring bottled water and soft drinks, and these save a bundle over vending machine/food court prices at the resorts.

[LisaP]

Can't live without my reusable water bottles and the powder packet drink mixes. Not only saves money, but lots of time stopping to buy drinks throughout the day!

Check out Polar brand water bottles. I absolutely love mine. It's the first insulated bottle that I've found to HOLD the COLD. It's thick plastick with a foil insulation, and I fill it with ice and bottled water, and mix in some lemonade

SUNSCREEN is a must pack. You can only get one brand on Disney property, which we found out the hard way for allergic hubby

[Disney OB RN]

Disposable rain ponchos!

[kakn7294]

Cheap rain ponchos from the dollar store (2 in a pack for $1), batteries (although pretty much everything now is rechargeable), and when we drive, we stop at the local Walmart for a grocery run - milk, water, coffee creamer, and a few breakfast items and snacks.

[Tink#64]

I too pack most of the popular aforementioned items, I was surprised to see how many of us bring extra hangers! Which made me think of the "new" item that I packed last year that was a wonderful time saver! Downy Wrinkle Release! I'm a neurotic ironer, not so much on vacation, but you can't pack all those clothes in a suitcase & expect them to come out looking like they did when they went in! LOL With the help of the extra hangers, I have everyone pick out their clothes the night before & I spray some of the Downy WR, a few tugs here & there & they look great in the morning! I even hang some of the shorts using the skirt hanger clips or the clothes pins I bring with!

One thing that I didn't see mentioned in this thread, but I got the tip on here a few years ago, is one of those over the door shoe bags! This is HUGE for us! It has dozens of clear pockets & I sort everyone's personal toiletries, etc, the items we use everyday, & it keeps us from leaving it all out on the tiny counter or tossing back into the bag just to have to dig for it again! This is a time saver for us every morning & night!

I'm taking one new item when we go next month, a small fold up drying rack for all of those wet beach towels & bathing suits! I figure we never have enough room for those & we all get tired of taking them down for all to shower & then hang them all up again! I figure I can fold it & stow it under the sink or on the top shelf of the closet area if/when we don't need it!

[MikeyP]

Food and drinks for the park, of course. You can save HUNDREDS!

[teambricker04]

Cheap rain ponchos from the dollar store (2 in a pack for $1), batteries (although pretty much everything now is rechargeable), and when we drive, we stop at the local Walmart for a grocery run - milk, water, coffee creamer, and a few breakfast items and snacks.

Ooooh oooh oohhhh! I never thought to check the dollar store! I'm totally doing that! We have our disney ponchos from our last trip, but I really don't want to lug them. My day pack is smaller and lighter than ever before (no more diapers for anyone in my family!) so I really want to keep light!

We are bringing:
Food for breakfast: Cereal bars, oatmeal, cereal
Snacks in individual baggies
Reusable waterbottles and drink mixes
Purex Sheets
1/2 the clothes we normally bring
Mesh laundry bag for dirty clothes... has a strap for carrying it to the laundry room!

[RAIDER]

Hand held luggage scales and my DVC card are a must !!!

[IloveDisney71]

I buy ponchos ahead of time from Walmart for those pop-up showers. They only cost about a dollar - much cheaper than a Mickey poncho. I also throw one on for water rides - I hate walking around in wet clothes. Then I just put the used poncho in a ziploc bag in case I need it later.