5 Ways to Save at Disney World.
1. Want your family in matchy-matchy Disney shirts?
Hit up Wal-mart and Target sale racks.
I got my crew a set of shirts for every single day of our week long vacation - each one costing no more than $5 (including the shirts that I snagged for my husband!). Most of my boys' shirts were around $3.88 each from Target.com. Wal-mart was better in terms of Disney adult shirts.
TIP: if you can not find the correct size for multiple children without going for the items that are "full priced", simply try to find similar colors or coordinating patterns - the pictures are still just as cute.
For starters, it is honestly easier to keep up with your young kids when they are wearing the same colors and you know what they are wearing on that particular day.
Secondly, it just makes pictures that much more adorable.
But in all honestly, this is an unnecessary thing to do, and if money is tight, maybe just get one set of t-shirts for one day and try to get your "family photo" on that specific day.
Or, skip the shirts all together.
2. Saving Money in the Gift shops.
HOLY CRAP.
The stuff in the gift shops is expensive. So cute - but so expensive. I got my boys two toys each during our last 5 day stay at Disney World.
The secret is DO NOT LET THE KIDS PICK OUT WHATEVER THEY WANT.
First, I took note of what my boys asked for while in the park (which was literally everything).
Then, I went back into a store towards the end of the day without them and got identical items that were not outrageously priced.
They were beyond excited and it was stress-free.
No running through the gift shop wildly. No "that's too much", "put that back" or "where the heck is your brother?!".
This was the best way to conquer the gift shops.
Another big saver is - you guessed it - good ol' Wally World. The Walmart a few exits before Disney World in Orlando has TONS of Disney merchandise. The items are pretty identical - minus the "Walt Disney World" embroidery on the butt of the stuffed animals and the higher price tag.
When leaving Disney World this last trip, I ran into Wal-mart and got my boys a stuffed Donald Duck and Pluto they begged for the entire trip. These were about $9 each and larger than the $24 ones at the gift shops in the parks and at our resort.
Before leaving for our trip, I snagged a few flash lights for my boys to have during the Mickey's Not-So-Scary parade. In the past, they have loved having a light-up type toy during the darker hours of the park - and unfortunately, I have spent $40 on one item before.
Yeah. I about died. Never again.
Instead, this time heading into the park wiser, I purchased two flash-lights before we left town and surprised my boys with them the evening of the parade. These flash-lights were $3.49. And, we didn't even have to waste time standing in line at the park to make the purchase!
My boys played with these little flash-lights the rest of the trip! Definitely worth the $7!
Another method we've used is purchasing Disney Gift Cards in advance with a pre-loaded amount for our boys.
They each got a gift card with the same amount as their money to purchase a souvenir.
This kept everything fair, we didn't break the bank, and they understood that they needed to choose wisely because once the money was out, it was out!
3. Food.
I might get absolutely crucified for saying this but I HATE THE DISNEY MEAL PLANS.
No thank you.
We did that once - never again.
You spend most of your day making sure you 'get your money's worth' and use all your meals and snacks and all that.
Personally, I do not go to Disney to eat. I go for the experience of riding the rides and seeing all the awesome stuff they have there. I do not care to plan my days there around my meals. I do not like to waste time sitting down to three meals all day, every day.
If you want to save BIG TIME at Disney World - take a cooler full of food into your hotel room.
We typically eat breakfast in our room - easy start to the day, no time wasted getting to and from a restaurant and we save tons of money.
Same with snacks - I pack snacks each day and we take our own bottled water into the parks. We refill our bottles at the water fountains provided all over the parks.
Dinner - we typically will grab a quick dinner at the park and keep going. We plan 2 or 3 dinners that we feel we will thoroughly enjoy as a family and are a true experience. We have done Chef Mickey's, the Rainforest Cafe, and other similar restaurants through our years at Disney. We try to find a fun character involved meal for our kids to spend the money on, instead of just a high-priced meal with no extra fun involved.
Disney lets you bring in your own bottles of water and snacks, so cram whatever you can into your backpack to save money but also precious time! Do not waste all your time standing in line for food while you could be on an awesome ride!
Seriously - TAKE YOUR OWN WATER BOTTLE! You can easily spend a fortune on drinks at the park each day if you do not have your own. Water fountains are located all over each park for quick re-fills.
4. Auto-graph books.
Ugh. I loathe those things! BUT - most young kids love to have an autograph book for the characters to sign.
Instead of buying a high priced one at the park, purchase a small notebook at the Dollar Store. Use fun stickers and have your child decorate the exterior of the book themselves. Take a fun pen along and TA DA! Personalized autograph book for character encounters!
Also, all long the parks, fun Disney stickers are given out by cast-members. Be sure to collect these are part of your autograph book! These stickers are free and so cute!
If you have not been before DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE THE TIME YOU WILL SPEND WITH CHARACTERS! I always made fun of the people standing in line for an hour to see Mickey Mouse... until I had a child that lives to see him. Seriously, he'll pitch a fit during a 15 minute wait for an awesome ride, but will patiently wait 45 minutes to see Donald Duck. yeah.
So, all that to say... be prepared with some type of auto-graph booklet before you get your day started because your kids will get a huge trill out of it!
5. Pictures.
On one trip, we did order the package of Disney pictures that are taken all over the parks and linked to your wrist band.
It is nice to have all those pictures, but I probably will not purchase to package again.
At each "photo stop" where a Disney cast-member takes your picture with their professional camera, you can also have them take a picture with your personal phone or camera. They gladly do this every time. So, you can still great a great family picture in a beautiful spot of the park without having to buy your photos from Disney.
So, if you are trying to save on a trip, I would suggest having pictures taken on your personal devices and not worry about the available packages .
These trips are doable! Be smart and do your research first!
I plan to post another 5 Money Saving Tips for the Disney parks soon! Hope this was helpful to some one planning their trips!