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Disney on a SUPER budget - advice please.
So my family and I are driving to Disney from CT in May. We are staying off property (Hawthorn Suites) with a full kitchen in our attempt to cut back our food expenses and to have a little more room to groove. Plus is saves us a lot of $$ in lodging.
I'm interested in hearing any other cost cutting tips. Where to purchase our tickets, inexpensive eateries, and general budget wise advice.
We're going the week of May 9th. Anyone been that time and can give an account of crowd levels?
Thanks in advance.
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Bring your own water to the parks! (buy cases for the room, crystal lights etc if your not straight water people..since your driving you could even plan to purchase it when it's on sale at home and set it aside for the trip, same goes with other snack foods such as bars, goldfish, etc)
Many places (like the backlot express) have a generous lunch serving sandwich. My husband and I find splitting to be both economical and filling (in warm weather in particular)
If your space in your car permits, a slow cooker could be brought along to allow the prep of meals to be dealt with in the AM so you wouldn't be tempted to skip it in the dinner hour. (as you said you have a full kitchen this shouldn't be an issue as it would be in a room)
Natalie
Feb 2001 off site Jan 2002 All star movies Dec 2002 All star sports jan-04 Poly Nov 2004 pofq Nov 2005 Pors Mar 06 at PORS CBR Dec 2006 POR sept 21-30 2007 oct 2008 poly and akl, dec 2008 pop and VWL
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Hi! We are always tightly budgeted people as well (sometimes we get crazy!). Just in case you don't know you can get free ice water (in a cup) at most restaraunts/stands. Once I figured this out I stopped buying bottled water (unless the bottle works best for you).
Also, if you (or your peeps) are into pin trading you can get bulk pins at good prices on ebay. (I will do this next time for my guys and dole out a pin or 2 a day while on vacation so we don't buy pins at the parks). I also buy (or used to before they closed my Disney Store) small items on clearance like stuffed animals, pens/pencils, lite up toys before going to the parks. This way they got souvenirs without paying park prices for them. They were happy with new Disney things, I would place them on their pillows so they would find them when they woke up.
I don't know about discount tickets, other than buying them before you get there.
Don't know if any of this helps. Have fun!
Autism Awareness-Solve the Puzzle
June 1989-Off Site
May 2002-Off Site
October 2006-All Star Movies
March 2007-All Star Sports
March 2008-Pop Century
September 2008-Pop Century
October 2009-All Star Movies
February 2010-Dolphin
November 2010-Birthday & Christmas
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How to enjoy disney when you are on a budget? You can purchase your tickets before going.Check out your local disneystore for tickets.Have breakfast in your room before going to the parks.Pack a lunch to take with you.Eat counter service for dinner.It's alot cheaper than table service restaurants.Go to a super wal-mart for food,snack,souvenirs,etc.We did that last trip.The cast member at the front desk highlighted a map to the nearest one.We went a couple of times during our 10 day trip.I hope this helps out.
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Use the Official Ticket Center to buy your tickets.
Linda aka: Faline
INTERCOT Staff: Vacation Planning,Trip Reports and Disney Camping
[email protected]
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At Epcot, Electric Umbrella has the soda stations so you can refill your drinks while eating. They also offer this at Backlot Express at Hollywood Studios.
Genna
Always Enjoy the
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Some counter service restaurants that offer double burger meals allow you to buy an extra bun then you can each have a burger with toppings from the fixin's bar.
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Walmart has Disney t-shirts, hats, stuffies, and souvenirs at lower prices. There is also a Character Outlet store (Disney World and Disney Cruise merchandise) in the Prime outlet Mall.. very close to Downtown Disney.
We found the pre-cooked foods in the Winn Dixie to be a good selection, fruit, sandwich fixings or whole 12 inch subs for $5. We ate a lot of shrimp and salads from here, it was less than or equal to Walmart in most cases. We had a room with only a fridge and ate our own food most of the time. If you get a Win Dixie card when checking out you'll get all the discounts.
I'm not bad. I'm just drawn that way.
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You can bring food into the parks, so make some sandwiches and pack your lunch.
1971 (age 15) MK was new!
1974 off-site (Senior Trip)
1982 off-site
1988 off-site
May 2002 AS-Sports, with DW & kids
May 2004 Pop Century
Feb 2005 Wilderness Lodge
Oct 2006 Pop Century
Oct 2008 Camped at Fort Wilderness
Feb 2010 Cruise on the Wonder
Dec 2014 POFQ for Christmas!
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I don't want to be negative, but since you are driving and staying off Disney property- don't forget that you will have to pay to park at the parks each day- right now I believe it's $14 per day.
Please stand clear of the doors. __________________________________________________ Por Favor mantenganse alejado de las puertas.
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Just a mile or so east of Downtown Disney and just across the road there is a McDonalds and Taco Bell. You may not want to eat in your room all the time, and their prices are pretty much what all other franchises charge-- no big markups. Eat a big breakfast in your room to keep you going, or see if your motel offers any freebies, i.e. a breakfast. But don't scrimp so much that you can't enjoy your visit either.
30+ trips; DCV owner at Beach Club Villas; 4 Disney cruises; 2 trips to Disneyland
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[QUOTE=Patricia;2014370]Walmart has Disney t-shirts, hats, stuffies, and souvenirs at lower prices. There is also a Character Outlet store (Disney World and Disney Cruise merchandise) in the Prime outlet Mall.. very close to Downtown Disney.
That is a perfect way to spend less money on basicaly the same merchendise you would buy at the parksbut mabey a later date! I get pins to trade there so I can get a good pin for the price of the weird one I bought!
Ohanna means family, no one gets left behind or forgotten
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You can ask people in the park that are taking photos of their kids/families if they would like a group photo taken together. (Usually it is alway the same parent who takes the photos and is left out). Then once you have taken theirs, you can ask them if they would mind taking yours as a family. It works every time, you get a lot of shots together as a family and you dont have to pay for park group photos... Learned this from my Asian friends visiting the states
Romans 11:33-36
1983, 1989 - Off Site
2003 - April ASMo
2004 - June POR
2005 - April POFQ
2010 - May POP and Dec CSR
2013 - March F&G POP
Weekend Trip Summer 2013 - Off Site
2015 - Sept- AKL/CBR
DEC - BC/WL
2017 - July - Disneyland & D23 Expo!
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ive been a week a later than that, great time of year, low crowds, lack of rain, and not too hot
there are plenty of good counterservices, especially epcot, if you are looking to not cook a night
bring down a water bottle and buy some 1 gallon water and fill the water bottles up with it
Rob
2/90 - Fort Wilderness Cabin
2/92, 94, 98 - Beach Club
2/96 - Dixie Landings
2/99, 00 - All Star Sports
5/05 - Pop Century
5/07 - Coronado Springs
8/08 - Beach Club Villas
4/10 - Wilderness Lodge Villas
8/12 - Disneyland (offsite)
11/13 - Beach Club Villas
DVC Member
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Did not know that about the ice water for free. Thanks, I am not a bottle water buyer.
Kim, Mom of Two Russian Angels
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We've done early - mid May 4 times & it's fantastic! We've experienced great weather - high's in the 80's & some cooler nights that we wore jeans & wore a light jacket. Some early mornings a jacket would have been nice, but didn't want to end up carrying & it warmed up quickly. Not a lot of rain, but toting a disposal poncho is advisable. We've always enjoyed low crowds & been able to visit all attractions with no more than a 20 min sb line or by using fp.
I am VERY frugal, even if we have a larger budget, I'd rather use $'s for souvenears or more fun rather than just going for broke. We always eat breafast in the room, but we all carry our personal packs with snacks, cereal bars, granola bars, other snacks that don't crush/crumble easily or melt & we graze from these all day! DH & I each carry a water bottle that we refill as needed from the water fountains. I also carry packs of crystal light or koolaid if we get tired of plain water. We only buy cokes with meals or get our mugs refilled at the resort.
We're also driving this year which is a bonus! We can pack all that we want without extra baggage charges! This means we'll be bringing a cooler that we can refill with ice everyday rather than paying for the fridge in the room! Also we can bring more snack & breakfast items! This too saves what we would have spent to have one of the grocery services bring us some items that I wouldn't have in our checked baggage!
Our last trip we also didn't purchase the hopper option, but DH & I have both agreed that we'll get it this trip & we'll see how much we use it. We don't hop that much, but gosh the flexibility is sure nice.
Happy Planning!
Shari
-"There's A Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow..."
'02 - All Star Movies
'04, '05, '06, '10, '11, '16, '19, '21 - Pop Century
'08 - Offsite/Pop Century
'13, '21 - Offsite
'17 - Port Orleans/French Quarter!
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Originally Posted by bkfree
Did not know that about the ice water for free. Thanks, I am not a bottle water buyer.
When I first read that tip, here on Intercot, I thought No Way! Why would they give ice water for free? But, then I thought-of course they do, they don't want you becoming dehydrated or passing out and leaving the parks.
We take advantage of this tip every trip.
Autism Awareness-Solve the Puzzle
June 1989-Off Site
May 2002-Off Site
October 2006-All Star Movies
March 2007-All Star Sports
March 2008-Pop Century
September 2008-Pop Century
October 2009-All Star Movies
February 2010-Dolphin
November 2010-Birthday & Christmas
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If you have Disney Store in somewhat close proximity to you, check there for souvenirs and shirts. We just went to our local Disney Store yesterday! Bought our DD7 her Disney Shirts for $2.99!!! They also had adult shirts too for $4.99!! Definitely check your local Disney Store or Walmart!
POFQ - 1995
CBR - 1999
POR - 2001
WL - May 2006
BCR - April 2010
PPH (Disneyland) - July 2011
BWI - Dec 2012 - Anniversary Trip!
DCL & SoG 2014
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At Epcot, near the fountain behind Spaceship Earth is a Coca Cola shop where you can taste sodas from around the world for free. It is VERY popular and a great place to go get some free soda.
Please stand clear of the doors. __________________________________________________ Por Favor mantenganse alejado de las puertas.
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Originally Posted by MaxPower
At Epcot, near the fountain behind Spaceship Earth is a Coca Cola shop where you can taste sodas from around the world for free. It is VERY popular and a great place to go get some free soda.
Yeah, especially that yummy "Beverly" flavor!
1971 (age 15) MK was new!
1974 off-site (Senior Trip)
1982 off-site
1988 off-site
May 2002 AS-Sports, with DW & kids
May 2004 Pop Century
Feb 2005 Wilderness Lodge
Oct 2006 Pop Century
Oct 2008 Camped at Fort Wilderness
Feb 2010 Cruise on the Wonder
Dec 2014 POFQ for Christmas!
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