Originally Posted By tales15 One thing not talked about too much are small tips and tricks for saving money on WDW trips. If you're like me, going to WDW is a stretch financially. We don't have a lot of money and so stretching every dollar is very important to making a dream a reality. I'm looking for YOUR SUGGESTIONS. What are some tips and advice you can give me to help stretch my budget? I recently came across this article: <a href="http://www.hoteldealsrevealed.com/blog/disney-world-money-saving-tips/" target="_blank">http://www.hoteldealsrevealed....ng-tips/</a> which is great, but additional suggestions welcome please.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros Seems like the article did a pretty good job of covering all the main points. One of the things that's really tough to figure out is if it's cheaper to stay on-site or off-site. At a Disney hotel, you get free transportation from the airport and free transportation around WDW, so there is no need to rent a car; additionally if you do have a car, you won't need to pay for parking at the hotel or any of the parks (roughly $15 per day for non-hotel guest). Once you factor in the cost of a rental car and parking, it often appears that booking through Disney is cheaper, especially since they often run promotions where you get discounted park tickets in combination with your room package. But on the flip side, you will be 'trapped' on Disney property, and will have to buy all of your food from them, at a hefty mark-up. If you can bring along some snacks and breakfast-type foods (I've made oatmeal with hot water from the coffee maker a few times), that will certainly help you save. Also, bringing along a refillable water bottle will help you save money on drinks, but the tap water in WDW does taste a little funky Another tip is to take advantage of the PhotoPass photographers. While it is quite expensive to buy your pictures from them, they will gladly take your picture with your personal camera after they do it with their professional one, and since they're professionals and in prime locations (in front of icons or with characters), the pictures always turn out great. Carry around the PhotoPass card with you, to collect the official ones, and hand the card and your camera to the photographer at the same time. Just don't be afraid to ask! There are also great things to do outside of the parks, many of which are quite cheap or free. There are a couple miniature golf courses that are very highly reviewed, and several PGA courses for the grown-ups. At the hotels, they often have special games at the pools in the afternoons, and outdoor movies at night. Combined with some of the fun transportation between places (boats to DTD from Port Orleans and Saratoga Springs, monorail to the MK hotels and Epcot, carriage rides at several hotels), and you can easily make a fun day of that. It is tough to use Disney's transportation between hotels (you will have to go to a theme park and transfer), so it might help to rent a car, but there's plenty to do outside of the parks to keep you busy for a day or two
Originally Posted By Princessjenn5795 Depending on whether your family tends to do a lot of table service meals, the dining plan can save you a lot of money. Also certain times a year they offer the dining plans for free with WDW packages, and that can save you a ton. One other thing that you can do to save money is to have some snacks and a case (or more depending on the size of your family and length of your stay) delivered to your room from some of the grocery stores in the area. Just Google "Walt Disney World grocery delivery" and a couple of options pop up. Since bottled water costs a fortune at the resort it can save you a lot of money.
Originally Posted By Mickeymouseclub The last time i was at Universal Orlando the restaurants offered a discount with AAA membership. So utilize all discount options. I have Premium Pass discount, DVC Member, Disney Visa Card and the AAA ; so be sure to ask for a discount. I also just saw reports about DL/WDW price increase announcement so purchase tickets SOON!!! On the Disney site the pre-purchase online ticket expires Jan 14th but the AAA ticket expired 12/31/2013 so be sure to read the fine print.
