[dznygrl]

Originally Posted by Dana

If I have to start worrying about buying a beer at the bar, then it's time to stop going on vacation for me. That's just not fun to me....my opinion only. To each their own. I am not judging anyone.

I agree Dana! I can be "cheap" about certain things, if it means a WDW trip versus NOT getting a trip...but if I have to worry about every little thing I buy, the trip is not even enjoyable! DH is the same way. He wants to make sure that when we go to WDW, we have enough $$ to eat wherever we want, whenever we want...do whatever activity we feel like doing, etc.

[Dana]

ERin -
I agree on the extras. I alot a certain $$ amount to each day and that's it. I budget it down to the $$. I have envelopes for each day with money alloted for meals, snacks and fun. When the money is gone for the day...that's it. It has worked out well for me.

[JM0318]

One way to save a little money... is we buy the childs meal even for the adults. Like an adult hot dog is just the hot dog... the childs meal is a hot dog fries and a small drink. Just the hot dog is nearly 5.00 and the childs meal is about 3.50 and the hot dogs are the same size.... just a little savings.... it helps us, since we have annual passes and go as often as we can. ºoºJudy

[Erin]

Dana - I like the envelope idea...that's a great visual for kids who want more! Very smart!

[dznygrl]

Originally Posted by Erin

Dana - I like the envelope idea...that's a great visual for kids who want more! Very smart!

Oh! I didn't even read that part about the envelopes. I do the same thing! In fact, I felt like a fool last time because I pulled out an envelope labeled "Towncar & tip" to pay the guy, and he looked at me kinda funny. But I find it's the best way for me to budget!

[karliebug]

When eating at counter service restaurants we order cups of ice water instead of soft drinks. It saves us 10-15.oo per meal for our family of 5. That really adds up over a week's vacation! We also do the refillable mug,and drink the coffee in the room. We bring our own breakfast and snack items to the hotel. We bring our own rain ponchos from walmart for .89. We buy t-shirts on clearance at our local disney store to wear on the trip. We use AP discount codes for the room and shop around for the best airfare deal.

[royorb1]

On our first trip we were extra careful about spending extra money. We did as much as we could to save money on food by bringing tons of our own drink and food and we did save alot of money and we still had an awesome time, so awesome that we've come back 2 more years in a row. So I say if you really want to go to WDW and you don't want to go crazy on money you can do it and you will have a great time. One thing we love to do is go to the outlet mall with the Disney and Universal stores- great deals and great prices!

[markypooh]

Let the photo hounds at the entrance to the parks gather your group for a picture and after theve snapped it, ask if they will take one with YOUR camera. Weve never been turned down and you can still check out the Disney photo for purchase if you want to.

[CaraMia]

We normally plan our trips in a timeframe where we have extra money and dont have to watch (within reason) what we spend. However...there is one thing we will be doing, but only will be doing it until November. When we renewed our seasonal passes it was a month before ds turned three. Kids under 3 are free. Next month will be the first trip to disney since ds is three years old. Because dh and I have seasonal passes, I dont want to buy ds a pass because then it will be on a different renewal time then ours. So we will sneak him in as a 2.5 year old (at least for this trip in March) so we dont have to buy tickets just for him. I am not sure when we will be going after the trip in March and it may be when ds is just too big to pass him off as 2.5 yrs old anymore.

Because this trip in March is a very "budgeted" trip, we may even stick to eatting meals at McD's and Wendy's rather then at the value hotel food court. We usually eat breakfest and sometimes late night snacks after the parks at the food court. If I am not mistaken, there is a huge McD's close to the value resorts (we are staying at POP this trip).

[E&B's Mom]

I agree with packing your own snacks and water. Also, a huge money saver is have the kids bring their own money (earned via small chores over a few months). We tell the kids we will uy them one souvenier each, and anything else comes from their $. We hardly spend any $ at all on souveneirs and it helps teach them the value of $.

[CaraMia]

Another tip...bring crystal light packets or kool-aid packets. Add to either bottled water or ice water in the parks. Saves money on drinks.

[Baloo85]

well to prevent parking over at the typical transportation and ticket center, we usually pull up to one of the magic kingdom hotels...usually Contemporary...and say that we are eating breakfeast or shopping...something like that...you know, to prevent the long walking...and guess what...it always works!!!!

[inluvwithdisney]

We are big on bringing our own snacks! We pack a suitcase with the snacks from Walmart(Then it is empty to bring back souveniers)

We also bring a little rolling cooler and fill it with pop and water and ice everyday and that saves us a ton!!!!

Usually we make ONE of our meals a day. Either breakfast in the morning or we make lunch and take it in, in our cooler!! Thant cooler saves us a ton!

[Disnyfan83]

We always drive from N.C. (about 9 hours if you drive overnight), and we always bring stuff for breakfast in the room. I buy those little boxes of milk that don't have to be refridgerated and then just ice one down before we go to bed. My kids LOVE eating cereal out of the little "box bowls!" Also, we only slpurge on one "Big" meal a day, and always at lunch (menus are almost the same as dinner, but soooo much cheaper!). Then our evening meal is something cheaper, usually at a counter service place, and sometimes our favorite - POPCORN!!

[talyea]

We have filled a cooler from home and decided when we saw the Wal-Mart just a few miles from WDW that it was easier to purchase a styrofoam one and get juice, water, breakfast items, and snacks there. My kids are also big fruit eaters, so I will buy the fruit from WM also - bring a lot of Zip-Lock bags and fill them up and keep them ready in the cooler. Also - I buy the big Zip-Lock bags and will soak a hand towel in the cooler and wrap it around the waterbottles and put in the backpack to help keep them cooler longer. Fill the cooler each day from the resort ice maker. Pop Corn is always a good snack and I can also pop it in the microwave in the food court.