A Disney trip can be expensive. Luckily, Disney Darling Blog has some tips and tricks to save money at Walt Disney World:
1. Get H2O for 0
Most of the quick service food stands will give you a free cup of water if you just ask for it! I usually do this instead of bringing a water bottle because water bottles take up room in bags, on rides and can easily be lost. Once you finish your free cup of water, you can throw it away. If you are thirsty later, you can always get another one. A water bottle costs $3.50. Say you have a family of four and you each buy 2 plastic bottles of water every day and you're staying for four days. $3.50 x 4 x 2 x 4 = $112. If you chose to get free cups of ice water, you could be saving over $100!
2. Skip the stroller
Instead of renting a stroller from the parks or outside companies, just have your kids walk. This is good for several reasons. Your kids will get exercise and burn off some energy before having to stand in half-an-hour long lines. If your child ever becomes tired, it's okay to take a break. Without crouching in a stroller, your kids will be able to see more of the park. They will be able to take in their surroundings instead of staring at feet all day long. You won't waste time parking your strollers outside of every attraction you visit and then trying to find it when you exit the attraction. Strollers are also awfully annoying to other guests. They take up too much room on walkways and aisles in stores. Not to mention, you'll also save money! A single stroller is $15 per day. Let's say you're renting a stroller for 4 days. 15 x 4= $60. You could save $60 by skipping the stroller! For more tips about doing Disney without a stroller, check out this post.
3. Consider alternatives to basic souvenirs
The least expensive souvenir is the penny press. It costs 51 cents per penny! Kids love watching the penny machines whirl and clink as they shoot out penny with the picture of a Disney character on it! You can try collecting a penny form each park you visit.
One of the most bought souvenirs are autograph books and pens. So I suggest to make your own autograph book. You can buy a sketchbook or notebook and decorate it with whatever crafts you have lying around the house. There are some really cool alternatives to the basic autograph book, too. Some people have the characters sign a t-shirt or baseball hat. Some have them sign a frame. Later, they can put a picture from the trip in the frame. I myself had Rapunzel sign a plush Pascal for my best friend's Christmas present. And don't forget to bring your own pen from home!
4. Make a shopping game plan
There are several shopping methods. And working in merchandise, I have heard a lot of them. One method is to limit your child to only one souvenir per park. Some people like to collect one thing from each park, weather it's T-shirts or magnets or mugs.
Most of the quick service food stands will give you a free cup of water if you just ask for it! I usually do this instead of bringing a water bottle because water bottles take up room in bags, on rides and can easily be lost. Once you finish your free cup of water, you can throw it away. If you are thirsty later, you can always get another one. A water bottle costs $3.50. Say you have a family of four and you each buy 2 plastic bottles of water every day and you're staying for four days. $3.50 x 4 x 2 x 4 = $112. If you chose to get free cups of ice water, you could be saving over $100!
2. Skip the stroller
Instead of renting a stroller from the parks or outside companies, just have your kids walk. This is good for several reasons. Your kids will get exercise and burn off some energy before having to stand in half-an-hour long lines. If your child ever becomes tired, it's okay to take a break. Without crouching in a stroller, your kids will be able to see more of the park. They will be able to take in their surroundings instead of staring at feet all day long. You won't waste time parking your strollers outside of every attraction you visit and then trying to find it when you exit the attraction. Strollers are also awfully annoying to other guests. They take up too much room on walkways and aisles in stores. Not to mention, you'll also save money! A single stroller is $15 per day. Let's say you're renting a stroller for 4 days. 15 x 4= $60. You could save $60 by skipping the stroller! For more tips about doing Disney without a stroller, check out this post.
3. Consider alternatives to basic souvenirs
The least expensive souvenir is the penny press. It costs 51 cents per penny! Kids love watching the penny machines whirl and clink as they shoot out penny with the picture of a Disney character on it! You can try collecting a penny form each park you visit.
One of the most bought souvenirs are autograph books and pens. So I suggest to make your own autograph book. You can buy a sketchbook or notebook and decorate it with whatever crafts you have lying around the house. There are some really cool alternatives to the basic autograph book, too. Some people have the characters sign a t-shirt or baseball hat. Some have them sign a frame. Later, they can put a picture from the trip in the frame. I myself had Rapunzel sign a plush Pascal for my best friend's Christmas present. And don't forget to bring your own pen from home!
4. Make a shopping game plan
There are several shopping methods. And working in merchandise, I have heard a lot of them. One method is to limit your child to only one souvenir per park. Some people like to collect one thing from each park, weather it's T-shirts or magnets or mugs.
One game plan is to only do shopping on the last day of the trip. People usually decide to swing by Downtown Disney Springs to do this, as it contains merchandise from all of the parks. Parents will let their kids browse stores in the parks so they can get an idea of what they would like to buy. This way, kids are not running all over the store and taking forever to decide what to buy. And if a child has time to think about what to buy, they might not make impulsive decisions and end up purchasing something they don't really like.
Another method is to actually give the kids their own spending money. Some parents will put a set amount of cash into a gift card, like $50. They let the child spend that money how they please. But once the $50 are up, they cannot buy anything else. This teaches kids financial responsibility and math skills. Whatever method you decide to use is totally up to your parenting philosophies and your children's personalities.
5. Bring your own food
WDW definitely has some amazing food that I don't encourage you to skip out on completely. But if you're wanting to save money, you might want to bring some of your own food. A good compromise is to pack lunch and make reservations for dinner at a table service restaurant. Or you could eat meals at restaurants and pack healthy snacks such as fruit or granola bars. You save money and your kids stay healthy! Another option is to bring food to eat at the hotel. You could pack breakfast and midnight snack items and keep them in your hotel room fridge.
6. Stay at a Value Resort or off property
Let's compare a value resort with a moderate resort and a deluxe resort. All Stars is our value resort, Port Orleans is our moderate resort, and the Contemporary is our deluxe resort. All Stars costs about $100/night. Port Orleans is about $200/night and the Contemporary is about $600/night. So by staying at a value resort, you are saving between $100-$500/ night! Be sure to check hotel search engines for cheaper prices at other resorts in the area.
7. Purchase tickets as a bundle
Tickets are one of the most expensive parts of any WDW vacation. Adding extras to your tickets, like park hopper or water parks will be even more money. If you are planning on saving money, I suggest buying the 4-day ticket deal. This way you can spend an entire day at each park!
5. Bring your own food
WDW definitely has some amazing food that I don't encourage you to skip out on completely. But if you're wanting to save money, you might want to bring some of your own food. A good compromise is to pack lunch and make reservations for dinner at a table service restaurant. Or you could eat meals at restaurants and pack healthy snacks such as fruit or granola bars. You save money and your kids stay healthy! Another option is to bring food to eat at the hotel. You could pack breakfast and midnight snack items and keep them in your hotel room fridge.
6. Stay at a Value Resort or off property
Let's compare a value resort with a moderate resort and a deluxe resort. All Stars is our value resort, Port Orleans is our moderate resort, and the Contemporary is our deluxe resort. All Stars costs about $100/night. Port Orleans is about $200/night and the Contemporary is about $600/night. So by staying at a value resort, you are saving between $100-$500/ night! Be sure to check hotel search engines for cheaper prices at other resorts in the area.
All Stars Movies Value Resort
7. Purchase tickets as a bundle
Tickets are one of the most expensive parts of any WDW vacation. Adding extras to your tickets, like park hopper or water parks will be even more money. If you are planning on saving money, I suggest buying the 4-day ticket deal. This way you can spend an entire day at each park!
8. Skip Genie+
Genie+ is Disney's skip-the-line system. It was formerly known as Fast Pass, and formerly free! Unfortunately, when Disney re-vamped the system, they added a price tag. Genie+ may save you time, but it most certainly won't save you money. Genie+ pricing starts at $15, and may cost up to $30. This is per person, per day. Say you're a family of four, visiting for four days. $30 x 4 x 4 = $480. By skipping Genie+, you could potentially save $480! Luckily, here are some tips to help you reduce your wait time without having to fork over more money.
Looking for more tips?
If you are planning your first vacation to Walt Disney World, you may find this post helpful. Also, check out some Quick Tips for First Timers!
If you are looking for ideas to put together an itinerary, look through this post detailing the attractions of Magic Kingdom, and this post detailing the attractions of Animal Kingdom.
Do you have any tips to save money? Share them below!
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