[Dadoo]

I've spent a lot of time pouring over these tips and came away with some very usable ideas, thanks to you all for sharing. We always drove from WI to WDW and took the cooler, snacks, etc. This is the first year we are flying, so no cooler. No car, no way to go off-site unless we want to rent, thus foregoing the idea of savings...so, I've taken to heart, those ideas that will save while in the parks. We have our parkas in the backpacks, and will order icewater with meals, (I always ask for a slice or two of lemon for my water, very refreshing). But, having said all that, we go to WDW for the food, love the restaurants, the different cultures in Epcot, the once-a-year over-indulgence. YUM!!! hahahahah Probably won't be as many souveniers this year. But LOTS and LOTS food, and LOTS and LOTS of photos...

[llama]

Originally Posted by Dadoo

I've spent a lot of time pouring over these tips and came away with some very usable ideas, thanks to you all for sharing. We always drove from WI to WDW and took the cooler, snacks, etc. This is the first year we are flying, so no cooler. No car, no way to go off-site unless we want to rent, thus foregoing the idea of savings...so, I've taken to heart, those ideas that will save while in the parks. We have our parkas in the backpacks, and will order icewater with meals, (I always ask for a slice or two of lemon for my water, very refreshing). But, having said all that, we go to WDW for the food, love the restaurants, the different cultures in Epcot, the once-a-year over-indulgence. YUM!!! hahahahah Probably won't be as many souveniers this year. But LOTS and LOTS food, and LOTS and LOTS of photos...

Sorry - am I missing something (it's been known to happen) - but why do you need a parka in your backpack???

[dwagnfly]

We hadn't been saving so well for our WDW trip. So I took a look at our Quicken to see where we could cut corners. I discovered that we had been spending almost $350 a month with our debit card and more with cash just on going out to eat. It wasn't hard to see that we could easily cut that out. So, we've been brown bagging it at work and staying home to eat on our new money diet. We started in July and should have enough saved for our annual passes for three of us by Oct.

We're also saving all our spare change for fun money. I'll bring a couple rolls of quarters for the toll roads too. It seems I keep having to pay 75 cents just to turn around every time I get lost in Orlando. Hopefully by now I'll be able to find my way. I guess a frugal thing to do would be to just pay better attention to the maps and signs and not get lost, .

Oh, Llama, a parka in your back pack is a poncho for all the rain.

[llama]

Originally Posted by dwagnfly

.

Oh, Llama, a parka in your back pack is a poncho for all the rain.

Ohhhhhhh! Thanks! (I thought a parka might be a tad warm. )

[Dadoo]

Originally Posted by llama

Ohhhhhhh! Thanks! (I thought a parka might be a tad warm. )

I can't seem to get away from the cold fast enough! Of course I meant poncho, hehehehe, but it's that thingie that helps keep some of the rain off, ya know? hehehe (my bad!)

[Drizzo67]

What wonderful and truly amazing tips have been posted. As we are a party of 9 this trip coming the money savings ideas will come in very handy. I am now preparing a list of items that we can send down in advance to POFQ for our February 2006 trip. Keep the great ideas coming. Thanks to all who have posted before and after.

[gingles]

Way cool, this thread has had a life of its own since I started it last February. I never realized that I would learn so much from it! I thought I had a monopoly on cheap tricks in the world until I heard all this good stuff!

[Mickey Maniac]

There are alot of money saving tips, for exampleif you order a double cheeseburger at a counter service in a park you can get a roll for like 40 cents, so you could split your burger with someone if you are not overly hungry.

Or take advantage of the buy one get one or 1/2 off a ghirradeli sundae coupon.

I will try to save some money when I am there, I do enjoy my time and I will spend money if it is something I want.

[MissDisney]

Hey here's a good one: TWO ON A TURKEY LEG!!! I am serious! Those things are so huge that two people can easily share a $5 leg, plus split a soda, for a whopping $3 per person meal!

[lawwin]

We have several things we do to save money.
Buy ponchos at Wal-Mart and take with us. Take breakfast and water with us. We eat breakfast in the room. We also take the last lunch sitting for the character dining, and other dining (that way the meal is cheaper than dinner and you can use it like Dinner and have a snack later.) We only eat one big meal. We go to the everything's $10 or less store at DTD to shop for souvenirs. My DD loves the grab bags. It's one stop shopping for souvenirs as far as she is concerned. She gets a whole bag of really cool Disney toys for one low price. We also use the DVC discounts and freebies as much as possible.

And we ate two on a turkey leg for lunch in May. Lil brer and I decided to do it on the spur of the moment, and since it was huge and we never had a turkey leg, that was the way to go. Neither one of us could have eaten the whole thing. Now, I want one of those baked potatoes that they have in Liberty Square. They were huge and looked yummy!!!

[mickeymommy]

We took pop tarts and bars for breakfast and snacks. We also took nuts and trail mix in ziplocks for little nibbles. For drinks we took refillable bottles and used the water fountains to refill. We still ended up splurging and eating more meals than we had planned, but at least we didn't blow it all on snack food!

[twist1980]

Heres a kind of funny one. My best friend and I brought a whole bunch of food in our suitcases to save money (we were 19 and poor)! We were planning on making PB&J sandwiches each day for lunch and then having a big dinner. Only problem was we forgot the bread. So we had peanut butter and jelly...oops!

[Boss Mouse]

Originally Posted by MissDisney

Hey here's a good one: TWO ON A TURKEY LEG!!! I am serious! Those things are so huge that two people can easily share a $5 leg, plus split a soda, for a whopping $3 per person meal!

Are those things any good? I've seen people gnawing on them, but have never found them appealing. I'd hate to waste the $$$$

[ddoll]

Originally Posted by Boss Mouse

Are those things any good? I've seen people gnawing on them, but have never found them appealing. I'd hate to waste the $$$$

Ha, Boss! You hit on the SECOND most controversial Disney thread of all. You'll find people either love them or loathe them.

Personally, I'm in the hate category. They're smoked turkey, taste more like ham than turkey and I think they're dry, tough and unappetizing.

[lovemysons]

Originally Posted by ddoll

Ha, Boss! You hit on the SECOND most controversial Disney thread of all. You'll find people either love them or loathe them.

Personally, I'm in the hate category. They're smoked turkey, taste more like ham than turkey and I think they're dry, tough and unappetizing.

And I have never had one. Didn't know about the controversy though!