What are you best/silly $ saving tips for upcoming trip?

[Nick6300]

I honestly do use Park hopper a lot. Mostly because I travel in the summer, and your point about EMH is a good one. Just saying that I know if I have PH, Epcot, here I come!

PH is definitely a preference thing if not about the cost/time involved in the extra transportation. Some people like going to EP just for a favorite meal or PH if it's too crowded in their current park or favorite rides are temporarily down. Or they may have a car to cut down the trans. time.

On a Sat only trip, as a FL resident, I liked starting at DHS because my 2 fav. rides are TSM and Tower, and with it currently being a half day park with the construction... typically went to EP next and hopped on monorail to MK. I had bought that 8 day PH+ ticket like in 2012 so bought a matching 2nd one.

It's interesting that the plus fun option used to be same price as PH, but Disney figured out that much more people preferred the PH. So they redistributed the former total add on cost of both options into PH option and made the plus option much cheaper to add to tempt you to add it. They get more $ from most of us who do PH, and if people are tempted to add + option and visit water parks, the crowds are more evenly distributed (and maybe even more people buy food/merchandise with the shorter lines).

 

[Westcoastwild]

PH is definitely a preference thing if not about the cost/time involved in the extra transportation. Some people like going to EP just for a favorite meal or PH if it's too crowded in their current park or favorite rides are temporarily down. Or they may have a car to cut down the trans. time.

On a Sat only trip, as a FL resident, I liked starting at DHS because my 2 fav. rides are TSM and Tower, and with it currently being a half day park with the construction... typically went to EP next and hopped on monorail to MK. I had bought that 8 day PH+ ticket like in 2012 so bought a matching 2nd one.

It's interesting that the plus fun option used to be same price as PH, but Disney figured out that much more people preferred the PH. So they redistributed the former total add on cost of both options into PH option and made the plus option much cheaper to add to tempt you to add it. They get more $ from most of us who do PH, and if people are tempted to add + option and visit water parks, the crowds are more evenly distributed (and maybe even more people buy food/merchandise with the shorter lines).

Yeah, they got money from me on that. I keep going back and forth on doing it again. As you said, it's so cheap it's not a real loss not to use it.

 

[Melissakay1q]

I'm planning a solo trip in 2020, I know it's FOREVER from now! In order to pay for the trip, I'm planning to use "found money" and gifts.

I asked DH this week if he'd consider giving me a $100 gift card for each gift-giving holiday for the next few years. He isn't crazy about shopping anyway and was happy to agree. Mother's Day, birthday, Christmas, etc.

As for "found money" I'm using:
Mypoints
Walmart Savings Catcher
Shopkick
Checkout 51
Ibotta

I will cash out the earned amount into Walmart cards, more than likely, to use for groceries then pocket the actual amount we would have spent. I know that some flip for Disney cards. Same idea, just for cash we already have budgeted to use!

Also for groceries, I've switched my weekly shopping to Walmart Neighborhood Market in order to take more advantage of Savings Catcher.

When it comes to paying for groceries, I'm using my Disney Chase Visa to earn points. I'll pay off the balance before it has time to accumulate, usually in the next day or so. The Disney Chase Visa rewards are slow growing, but over 2 years it will earn me around $100. Very little effort to bank another hundred bucks!

 

[Nick6300]

I'm planning a solo trip in 2020, I know it's FOREVER from now! In order to pay for the trip, I'm planning to use "found money" and gifts.

I asked DH this week if he'd consider giving me a $100 gift card for each gift-giving holiday for the next few years. He isn't crazy about shopping anyway and was happy to agree. Mother's Day, birthday, Christmas, etc.

As for "found money" I'm using:
Mypoints
Walmart Savings Catcher
Shopkick
Checkout 51
Ibotta

I will cash out the earned amount into Walmart cards, more than likely, to use for groceries then pocket the actual amount we would have spent. I know that some flip for Disney cards. Same idea, just for cash we already have budgeted to use!

Also for groceries, I've switched my weekly shopping to Walmart Neighborhood Market in order to take more advantage of Savings Catcher.

When it comes to paying for groceries, I'm using my Disney Chase Visa to earn points. I'll pay off the balance before it has time to accumulate, usually in the next day or so. The Disney Chase Visa rewards are slow growing, but over 2 years it will earn me around $100. Very little effort to bank another hundred bucks!

Well, 2020 will give you a longer timeframe to save at least (sorry!). Plus I think it was 2019 for Star Wars and Toy Story Lands. Typically scheduled openings get delayed too. 2020 would be a good date to learn from others who go there first. I'm looking forward to the 2021 50th anniversary of MK. Congrats btw on the baby on the way.

I haven't done the apps and cash back shopping programs, but they must be worthwhile for many. We have an Aldi that is much cheaper than Walmart for groceries, and I don't really shop online. Can't bring myself to buy things like clothes online without trying everything on in person. I guess I'm not with the times. Didn't start texting until like 2010 because I thought it was too annoying. Good luck with saving for your trip and hopefully it's one to remember!

 

[LovesTimone]

1. Definitely agree that it's counterproductive to arrive exhausted. Our prob. is that we ran out of vacation and we have to leave the night before our check in. We're good car napping people but yes, we may have to stop for a bit. Or bag it all together and fly. The return trip we have a lot more time and thinking of staying with family in TN (half way from IL). Free dinner and lodging, right?
2. That's great thinking on the swim gear - I actually thought the same thing yesterday vs. potentially changing in a restroom stall. Don't love the food delivery service prices, but I get that it's better than Disney prices if you don't have a car. But almost worth it to even uber to a store instead. I used to freq. Publix when I was a Tampa res. It's a bit pricey, but good deli/better quality goods. Great idea on the subs, I was thinking sandwiches too since we get a small frig in our rooms.
3. great idea on the rain coats... We've only gone with the ponchos for the fold-ability and being able to be big enough to cover the back pack. But I'd like to find a dual purpose light rain coat - like you suggested that you can reuse. We used umbrellas and it those are just not good with Disney crowds.
8. will look into the Landry's card, thanks! Our birthday's don't fall during our Fall stays, you must be able to use the birthday credit later.
10. we miss our AP's for this trip. they are really trying to direct people to them lately.

The raincoats that we have fold up into a pocket that has a zipper, super easy to fold up and once in the pocket its about the size of a pencil pouch. I have one of those tiny towels that I think I picked up at the dollar store and keep in the day bag to wipe off the jacket before folding it up it has come in handy to wipe off seats and other icky stuff.

 

[Nick6300]

The raincoats that we have fold up into a pocket that has a zipper, super easy to fold up and once in the pocket its about the size of a pencil pouch. I have one of those tin towels that I think I picked up at the dollar store and keep in the day bag to wipe off the jacket before folding it up it has come in handy to wipe off seats and other icky stuff.

Your raincoats seem handy. But do you go bagless or how do you cover your back pack during down pours?

 

[tvguy]

LOL. We're making our first trip to WDW in June. For our 35th anniversary. Staying at the Grand Floridian, not leaving the grounds for 6 days/5 nights. Our kids are grown, just the two of us. I'll let you know how long it takes me to pay off the credit card !

 

[Nick6300]

LOL. We're making our first trip to WDW in June. For our 35th anniversary. Staying at the Grand Floridian, not leaving the grounds for 6 days/5 nights. Our kids are grown, just the two of us. I'll let you know how long it takes me to pay off the credit card !

living it up on your 35th! Congrats! The 35th anniversary for EP is this 10/1/17.

 

[Veronique]

1. Once, we split a Villa with another family. Was around 40$ a night (80$/2), 20 minutes from Disney for a 4 bedroom. VRBO.com

2. Since you will have a car (hey we count the car ride as a road trip and try to make the most of it with fun podcast and music + we bake our favorite food, bring snacks and candies, etc.) you can do what we did : we bought breakfast and tortillas, mustard, deli meat, a block of cheese, baby carrots, banana and chips. We made a lunch everyday with that and only ate at Quick service location once a day MAX.

Once the gaz, lodging and tickets are paid for, food is really the only thing you can save on.

I also did a Memory Maker share group (you share with 5-6 families) so I paid 140/6!

 

[Monykalyn]

Otherwise I use walmarts savings catcher, Ibotta & Walgreens apps to accrue rewards that I flip for gift cards

If you shop mainly at Aldi may not work for you. When I remember to put in my receipts $ accumulates fairly quickly.
However-the biggest money saver (if you can-not everyone is able to but you asked LOL) is garden and bulk buying. Friend recently was offering pasture finished, no hormones side of beef for ~$3.5/pound (after processing fee)-steaks, roasts, hamburger etc. Plus I have fruit trees, backyard chickens(this particular project is not a money saver though LOLOL), and 5 large garden beds. I still budget same amount of $ towards groceries and put rest away into vacay account!

Undercover Tourist,

-eBates has cashback from UT as well, and occasionally Cheaptickets/Orbitz will have large cashback (haven't seen a good one in couple years though, 2014 cheaptickets had 20% cashback on disney tickets via ebates-was a very nice bonus for 5 tickets!)

find a dual purpose light rain coat

Buy in summer when sales are on. Found a North Face lightweight water proof jacket cheap cheap after sales last 4th of July!

I used to also see Orbitz offering discount codes to use on top of sale Disney resorts from time to time.

Yeah beware of the new cancellation fees and "extra person" charge in some of the resorts. I have an orbitz CC and have gotten free rooms with the rewards that accumulate, but like everything, rewards are diminishing.

Also-don't overlook disney movie rewards for gift cards. There is no a max number of times you can get each card, but we have maxed out on both $10 and $5 disney cards, plus they have starbucks cards. Free money if you go to see movies.


I love the idea of the $1 and cash in for $50 gift cards. We do have a change jar but someone always raids it when it starts getting full!

 

[Nick6300]

1. Once, we split a Villa with another family. Was around 40$ a night (80$/2), 20 minutes from Disney for a 4 bedroom. VRBO.com

2. Since you will have a car (hey we count the car ride as a road trip and try to make the most of it with fun podcast and music + we bake our favorite food, bring snacks and candies, etc.) you can do what we did : we bought breakfast and tortillas, mustard, deli meat, a block of cheese, baby carrots, banana and chips. We made a lunch everyday with that and only ate at Quick service location once a day MAX.

Once the gaz, lodging and tickets are paid for, food is really the only thing you can save on.

I also did a Memory Maker share group (you share with 5-6 families) so I paid 140/6!

Congrats on landing a Pop reservation this Aug... I tried (it's sort of last min. too I suppose) and couldn't find good options for our stay because of the refurbishments there. The villa savings must have been awesome. I've helped friends do a similar share off site villa reservation too. They rented a car to avoid the (late night, frequency of pick ups) restrictions at the villa. We're new in IL and don't really have many close friends. Or at least Disney loving friends. We plan on doing the quick service 1-2x a day things as well on this trip. Wish we had longer to do some site seeing (i.e. Nashville).

 

[Nick6300]

If you shop mainly at Aldi may not work for you. When I remember to put in my receipts $ accumulates fairly quickly.
Aldi, Kroger (fuel pts), Sam's right now. But there's just 2 of us right now and we don't grocery shop as much as most. Think avg. less than $100/mo. But I think I will look into some of these ebates type services.
However-the biggest money saver (if you can-not everyone is able to but you asked LOL) is garden and bulk buying. Friend recently was offering pasture finished, no hormones side of beef for ~$3.5/pound (after processing fee)-steaks, roasts, hamburger etc. Plus I have fruit trees, backyard chickens(this particular project is not a money saver though LOLOL), and 5 large garden beds. I still budget same amount of $ towards groceries and put rest away into vacay account!
Garden/ Buying hormone free meats are really nice. Been a while/need to clear some freezer space, but had grandparents raise a steer for us and it was something like $3/ib for Pork-chop (we named him).

-eBates has cashback from UT as well, and occasionally Cheaptickets/Orbitz will have large cashback (haven't seen a good one in couple years though, 2014 cheaptickets had 20% cashback on disney tickets via ebates-was a very nice bonus for 5 tickets!)
Guess I should have done more than just compare UT, Pass Savers, Maple_, tickets.

Buy in summer when sales are on. Found a North Face lightweight water proof jacket cheap cheap after sales last 4th of July!
Think we will look for a rain coat for at least one of us. Poncho's are annoying as they fly up, tear, etc. We just need to quit being dependent on back pack for lugging our water bottle, super phone charger, food, sunscreen, etc. We do the poncho because it fits over the back pack.

Yeah beware of the new cancellation fees and "extra person" charge in some of the resorts. I have an orbitz CC and have gotten free rooms with the rewards that accumulate, but like everything, rewards are diminishing.

Also-don't overlook disney movie rewards for gift cards. There is no a max number of times you can get each card, but we have maxed out on both $10 and $5 disney cards, plus they have starbucks cards. Free money if you go to see movies. Went from a huge movie goer (think someone who goes to 3 movies on a Sat.) to never going and waiting for movies at the library to checkout for free. I live in the extremes I guess.


I love the idea of the $1 and cash in for $50 gift cards. We do have a change jar but someone always raids it when it starts getting full!

Love my Mickey change doll, but yes... tough not to raid. We also rarely use cash w/ the credit card rewards.

 

[LovesTimone]

Your raincoats seem handy. But do you go bag less or how do you cover your back pack during down pours?

DH and I don't carry a backpack, I use a small Crossbody handbag, and we have a sling bag with one wide strap one, we don't over stuff it. You can wear it in front or back and its easier to get into while walking. The rain jackets (2), small sunscreen, that tiny towel, a couple of Ziploc's, some type of antibacterial wipes the small packet that you can find in the travel size section & hand sanitizer clipped to the strap. That's about it, we put our water bottles in there on rides. If it starts raining we just put the rain jacket on over the bag. We did get them a size bigger, as we bought them with the idea they would be used for traveling. Since your both adults you could both carry a bag like this or those string bags, and divide up the stuff. I know pairing down is hard but once you get started it gets easier and easier to do. We both wear cargo shorts, those pockets can carry quite a bit of odds and ends.

Now when the kids and grandkids are with us, we use backpacks with the stroller, we bought a rain guard for it.

 

[DisneyMandC]

Congrats on landing a Pop reservation this Aug... I tried (it's sort of last min. too I suppose) and couldn't find good options for our stay because of the refurbishments there.

I just got one for two nights in August! Called last Friday and got a preferred room. Maybe try checking back?

 

[Nick6300]

I just got one for two nights in August! Called last Friday and got a preferred room. Maybe try checking back?

I think it might be because we're looking for 7 nights (a longer stay), specific days. I think I did see short stay openings. It probably helped that you picked a preferred too. Yes, doesn't hurt to check back, but I think wife is tired of changing plans and wants to start the next phase which is are we def. driving or flying, then start figuring out FP's- we have less than a month to plan those. We're toying with getting another credit card for free flights to go along with our free room or taking the road trip (most likely). I've been tuning up the car (changed all fluids, plugs, filters, etc.). We're versed on FP picking, but haven't followed Avatar Land much or some of new things such as the show at Beauty and Beast theater.

 

[BelleEileen1113]

Central IL for the win! We're more Southern Illinois these days, but I grew up a little closer to Springfield. We also drive to Florida, even though we could fly out of Belleville for pretty cheap on Allegiant. I hate flying!

My biggest money savers are to purchase the disney gift cards from target (5% off with redcard), then deposit them into a Disney Vacation Account to get another $20 per $1000 spent.

Bring your own drinks and snacks.

You say you have family in Tennessee, so that super nice! If you didn't, I would recommend booking a stay at one of the Drury Hotels...they include a pretty awesome hot breakfast and 5:30 kickback (glorified happy hour, but enough food for dinner, for sure!). We usually stop in Atlanta as our halfway point, but they are pretty common along the route to Orlando. Always super clean. If I'm not staying with Disney, I'm staying at a Drury!

 

[Nick6300]

Central IL for the win! We're more Southern Illinois these days, but I grew up a little closer to Springfield. We also drive to Florida, even though we could fly out of Belleville for pretty cheap on Allegiant. I hate flying!

My biggest money savers are to purchase the disney gift cards from target (5% off with redcard), then deposit them into a Disney Vacation Account to get another $20 per $1000 spent.

Bring your own drinks and snacks.

You say you have family in Tennessee, so that super nice! If you didn't, I would recommend booking a stay at one of the Drury Hotels...they include a pretty awesome hot breakfast and 5:30 kickback (glorified happy hour, but enough food for dinner, for sure!). We usually stop in Atlanta as our halfway point, but they are pretty common along the route to Orlando. Always super clean. If I'm not staying with Disney, I'm staying at a Drury!

So you can relate to this long drive! We'd prefer to fly to save some time. The thing with Allegiant (never tried it, we've been here less than a yr.) is that it flies in to Sanford, and we'd have to rent a car or uber back and forth (had some bad hacking experiences with Uber... think dozens of bills from someone using your acct in Canada), the flights are Wed or Sat only with poor times, and they just made the news for failing several safety maintenance on their planes. We've found $900 flights out of Peoria (not great times = later first day, early departure, connections) or facing the 3.5 hr. ea. way drive to St. Louis or Indy for a $400-450 direct SWA flight (plus a late night hotel to make the early am boarding and long term parking). I've looked at Chicago, Bloomington, Champaign... wish Peoria had SWA or at least better options. Need to figure out the long term game plan for getting to FL.

So your red card/Disney savings acct gets 7% total. That's pretty cool, and I never looked into the savings acct. The 10% off Target GC's on Black Fri is limited to $300, which you can buy with a credit card that has rewards (my BOA Travel card gets 2.65% on all), and then you'd buy Disney cards with the target cards. You'd have to use friends and fam to buy more than the $300, but that's enough per yr. for me.

There are some good hotel rates near Atlanta? The fam in TN is close enough to I-75 (Lebanon, east of Nashville), but still not as convenient as being right by I 75 of a little further south so you have less to drive in the am. ATL traffic is awful, so we try to either go through it late at night or super early.

 

[familyman123]

Peoria local here.

Peoria airport has its virtues - free parking and you don't have to check in super early for your flight. But deals are hard to get, and most locations require two flights. These days I only fly out of Peoria when required for work. We are now a family of 6, so the cost benefit over driving over flying is substantial, so we always drive to Florida. Now when we do fly for long distances, we fly out of Milwaukee (our preferred airport and where my in laws live) or Chicago (where my family lives) and we can spend the night before the flight for free. But I don't see many times where driving to Chicago to fly to Florida is a superior solution.

For stopping midway to Orlando, we like Chatanooga. Its about halfway and there are a lot of hotel options right off the expressway. The last time in Orlando (September 2016) we stayed in Kennesaw, GA, and it was fine too. If you are just looking for a budget hotels there are plenty of options between Chatanooga and Atlanta (Dalton, Kennessaw, Marietta, etc) and I think any one of them should have something that would fit. (My family has to be a little more picky with needing sleeping arrangements for 6 people).

I agree on Atlanta traffic being terrible. Our last trip we drove we stopped in Kennesaw on Friday night so that we wouldn't have to worry about Atlanta traffic until Saturday morning. Unfortunately, construction on Saturday morning cost us big delays - so we lost anyway.

 

[Nick6300]

Peoria local here.

Peoria airport has its virtues - free parking and you don't have to check in super early for your flight. But deals are hard to get, and most locations require two flights. These days I only fly out of Peoria when required for work. We are now a family of 6, so the cost benefit over driving over flying is substantial, so we always drive to Florida. Now when we do fly for long distances, we fly out of Milwaukee (our preferred airport and where my in laws live) or Chicago (where my family lives) and we can spend the night before the flight for free. But I don't see many times where driving to Chicago to fly to Florida is a superior solution.

For stopping midway to Orlando, we like Chatanooga. Its about halfway and there are a lot of hotel options right off the expressway. The last time in Orlando (September 2016) we stayed in Kennesaw, GA, and it was fine too. If you are just looking for a budget hotels there are plenty of options between Chatanooga and Atlanta (Dalton, Kennessaw, Marietta, etc) and I think any one of them should have something that would fit. (My family has to be a little more picky with needing sleeping arrangements for 6 people).

I agree on Atlanta traffic being terrible. Our last trip we drove we stopped in Kennesaw on Friday night so that we wouldn't have to worry about Atlanta traffic until Saturday morning. Unfortunately, construction on Saturday morning cost us big delays - so we lost anyway.

Thank you for the post! Somewhat discouraging though that you're also having to do this long drive because the flight options aren't great. I was initially hopeful when I heard there were flights out of Bloomington, Springfield, Champaign, but they weren't any better. I don't really want to resort to hiking to Midway, Indy, and St. Louis. Heck, when we lived in Flint, MI, we never flew out of Detroit because of the 1 hr. drive (despite sometimes being a few hundred cheaper). Peoria is bigger than Flint, and I sort of don't get it why no SWA, no direct to MCO. I checked again last night and it was just under $900 for connecting poor times from Delta vs. $405 Midway SWA. I tried to figure out a back way like a puddle jumper to Flint first, but failed. If indeed driving, haven't decided how to exactly time Atlanta. It'll be a Thurs am with people driving to work, even if we stay in Atlanta and leave like after breakfast at 730.

 

[familyman123]

Nick3600

Did you look into flying Allegiant from Peoria to Clearwater airport? I just did a quick search and roundtrip tickets August 24-31 appear to cost $158 each. And I can do a priceline search and find a rental car for around $250.