Best tips for saving money in parks

[MAGGIED]

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[kevin75]

my wife and i shared most of our food on our recent honeymoon. we took some snacks with us and usually had that for breakfast and then we would usually share an entree for lunch/dinner, especially whenever we went to a table service restaurant. we also took advantage of the extra bun trick as well as the cup of ice water to refill our water bottle.

 

[DizzyErin]

THIS IS A GREAT IDEA!!!! My son LOVES pressed pennies and I just told him this idea and he is VERY excited! Can you tell me where you bought the book and also where I can get a list of the locations? Sounds like a great scavenger hunt!

I don't know about the list of locations but we got the pressed penny books in MK and saw them in every park

 

[MAGGIED]

a great idea for the pressed pennies is to get a couple of those mini M&M containers. Then you can stack up them up in the tube. 2 quarters then a penny... they close tightly and for us it was a great way to keep the money from falling out inside my bag.... I decorated my kids tubes with Disney stickers...

 

[mousetravel]

A money saving tip for souvenirs for me is: Go to Downtown Disney before visiting the parks. They have "Mickey's Mart" where everything is $10 & under.

 

[Allybaster]

I'm super cheap, so I love this thread!

The last time I went to WDW was 10 years ago with my parents and they had water bottle straps for sale. We bought a bunch of them and I still have them. Excellent for carrying around a bottle. They are long nylon straps that sling over your shoulder (like a purse) and have a slidy attachment to hold on to a bottleneck. Those saved us a bundle. I have 2 Epcot ones and one AK strap. I love them.

This time (12 days from now!!!) I am going with my DBF and I am bringing granola bars and fruit snacks. Having a little snack while waiting on lines is really nice and it will keep me from gorging on popcorn and Mickey bars!

 

[mickeywho?]

We love the pressed penny idea and my boys would love to do this on our next trip. For those of us in Canada - where do we get rolls of new pennies? Do we need to go to a local bank when we're in Orlando? Will they sell us a roll or two even if we're not clients? Or is there somewhere in WDW - maybe DTD - that would have these available?

 

[emmsmama]

Will they let you order only 3 meals for four people at a TS restaurant (obviously not including buffet places)?

 

[logansmummy]

I would like your best tips on saving money during your Disney vacation. We already have our room, transportation and tickets, so I'm looking for tips regarding food, souveniers, etc. We could not get the dining plan so we need to mindful of the amount spent on meals. We leave in one week and I can't wait!!

Here is one tip on souveniors that may help you, I know it helped me!!! Ok the very first park we went to my son wanted this light sabor extender thing, I bought it, he also wanted this other light up thing, we bought it, and then he had a buzz toy, we bought it. The rest of the week, we packed the souveniors in the under compartment under stroller and he always had what we bought already and never wanted anything else. Yea!!!

 

[flash654]

We love the pressed penny idea and my boys would love to do this on our next trip. For those of us in Canada - where do we get rolls of new pennies? Do we need to go to a local bank when we're in Orlando? Will they sell us a roll or two even if we're not clients? Or is there somewhere in WDW - maybe DTD - that would have these available?

I've found that most banks will change bills into coins at no charge. A roll of pennies is 50 cents, and a roll of quarters is $10.

 

[Heva2015]

Get pins at the Character Outlet stores. They are usually cheaper (0.99c and up) and often limited edition ones.

 

[Chellymouse]

About the water... I would love to bring a package of water bottles for the trip, but I don't think I could bring something like that on the plane. We won't have a car as we're using Disney transportation. Any suggestions on water bottles without paying Disney prices every time we want water?

We packed two cases of water in our luggage with no problem. As long as you don't try to bring the water through security We ended up giving some water to our friends because we had brought too much. $10 for 2 cases of water vs. $2.50/bottle in the parks. We usually kept a cooler in a locker and when we needed water, made a locker run!

 

[lwartberg]

How big are the lockers? And how much does it cost to rent one?

 

[Not so Dumbo]

Check the Target and Walmart for Disney souvies too. I found a pair of sandals for DD at Target for $4.99 and the same pair was $12.99 at one of the stores in Fantasyland

 

[tinkeramy]

The best thing I can tell you is to hit the Disney Store for sales. I went about a week after Christmas and got each child a pair of PJs for $10.00, a sweatshirt for - my proudest moment - $7.50 each! In the park these are at least $25.00 and since we are going in Feb, the evenings will be cool enough to wear them. My guys have also just discovered Huey, Dewey and Louie and think they are hysterical. The Disney Store had on clearance decent sized plush of each triplet for $6.00. Throw in a couple of Mickey coloring books and sticker books found in the Target $1.00 aisle, and we are set for the "gimmes"!

 

[TotalSnowWhite]

The best thing I can tell you is to hit the Disney Store for sales. I went about a week after Christmas and got each child a pair of PJs for $10.00, a sweatshirt for - my proudest moment - $7.50 each! In the park these are at least $25.00 and since we are going in Feb, the evenings will be cool enough to wear them. My guys have also just discovered Huey, Dewey and Louie and think they are hysterical. The Disney Store had on clearance decent sized plush of each triplet for $6.00. Throw in a couple of Mickey coloring books and sticker books found in the Target $1.00 aisle, and we are set for the "gimmes"!

Agreed!! We got PJ pals for $5!!! We stocked up on those! We also got snowglobe picture frames for $10, costumes for DS $7.50 (Peter Pan) and $4.75(!) (Buzz Lightyear) and princess accessories for DNiece for under $5 a pop! Disney Store Semi-Annual is the BEST!! Oh, and light up fans for $1.50!

 

[oscarfry]

WalMart stores near WDW have GREAT Disney Departments!! I just got back from WDW! Bought all my souvenirs at WalMart!!! Several Super WalMarts near WDW. Linda

 

[unbroken chain]

You can also buy self-filtering water bottles. Then you can refill from fountains or even restroom sinks whenever you want. This keeps you from having to haul 3 or 4 bottles per person around. If you are super-cheap, buy 1 self-filtering bottle and refill everyone else's bottle from the filtering one. We also use a padded/semi-insulated water bottle holder with a shoulder strap, one per person. Even young kids can carry their own bottle and you are not left being a water bottle pack mule.

For example:
http://www.************.com/bottles.html?glid=CLGgoJChmpECFQwaHgodkVIi9A

or

http://www.waterfilters.net/Filters/waterbottles/sportbottles.htm

I'm sure there are many others.

 

[cwestbrook]

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[Elvis33]

Bought all my DD glow stuff, flashing pins, light up wands, light up hair braids before we went to Disney at premier glow on line. She has new stuff each day and no whining about wanting stuff in the parks.