Being Frugal at Disney

Everyone who knows me wonders how I stay so frugal at Disney. We absolutely love Disney and try to go at least once a year. Last year, we went for 8 days in December and to experience Disney at Christmas is an unbelievable visit. The light show at Disney Studios is worth it alone. Last year's visit cost under $1000 and the crowds were so light- we walked on almost every ride. Got down right snobby during one of our last days there- we were waiting 10 minutes. We literally rode everything until we were sick of it! HAHA

There are several things I do that keeps the cost down.

• Once I know we are going, I hit the local Disney Stores and buy souvenirs off clearance. The girls think that Mickey leaves treats for them in the car or hotel room so we never go to the shops and let the girls look around. I will tell them that they can decide on the last day if there was something they didn't get and want then we would let them get one thing.
• I ask grandparents, aunts, uncles etc to give the girls Disney Dollars beforehand so they can spend their money in Disney.
• I take my own mini-fridge and a percolator with us. Sound weird? Yes, but I stock up on grits, oatmeal and Pop Tarts through CouponMom. I take foam bowls, plastic utensils and we eat breakfast in the room while we get ready to hit the park of the day. We take a case of bottled water with us and freeze several each night. Yes- super cheap but no wasted time or money on breakfast. I have several of those complimentary, insulated diaper bags that the hospital gives you when you have a baby- I load it up with waters and snacks that I got on a great deal again from CouponMom. Disney wants to rent a mini fridge for $10 a day so you are looking at $70 bucks for the week. We have one that we got a garage sale for less than $10 and this is it's only purpose.
• Because I am loaded up with snacks- we eat one meal a day in the parks. We for whatever reason, don't eat a lot on vacation. We'll share a meal, the girls will too at lunch or a little later and supplement the meal with juice boxes and snacks. The only splurge is popcorn which the girls could eat all day long and that helps keep the cost down eating in the parks. But popcorn is the cheapest snack food in the park. We buy the souvenir bucket and just keep getting refills.
• We save every popcorn bucket and I wash them out at the hotel. I'll bring a sample of dishwashing detergent. My girls are young enough to think these are souvenirs and they love watching a movie in the playroom with their popcorn buckets. Every park has a different bucket and they love them. I even went so cheap this past visit that I got 2 Mickey ears plates from the kids' meal and saved those as well. We bought one kids meal and asked for a 2nd plate. I used wipes to clean them out and we still have them almost a year later! They love using the Mickey ears plates to this day.
• We only buy 1 park a day tickets. With our girls so young- trying to Park Hop is just crazy. We buy enough tickets to do a park a day and since we go off season- the parks are closing early or we coordinate our parks when they are staying open late.
• We don't get into the whole Character Dinners etc. I know we will later on but right now- no big deal. What the girls don't know won't kill them!
• We leave the park and get dinner. Our last visit- we actually did take out and took it back to our hotel room. My oldest actually asked for veggies and a balanced meal about our 3rd day. For example, we went to Outback- ordered a large prime rib with an extra side. While we were waiting- Mike went to Winn Dixie, got a salad mix and dressing in the same shopping center. No drinks- had them in the room, no tip... we were 2 minutes away from our hotel and just had picnics in the room. The girls loved it and thought we were just doing the neatest thing! So our dinner budget was under $20 most nights.
• We hit a close-by Walmart for Tshirts. Why pay $20 plus within Disney when you can buy shirts that your children could care less where you bought them but can bring home from their magical vacation.
• I use www.touringplans.com to plan our parks each day. One year is $8.95 and this site helps you utilize your time and get the most bang for your buck!
  

You can do Disney on a budget, have a great time and not come home worrying about credit card bills and paying for what you spent during a week at Disney. We don't consider a vacation a true "vacation" if we have to come home and deal with the costs later. Going with a budget, creative ways to save money and not coming home to a pile of debt makes a week of Disney a lot of fun! And once you realize you are frugal and a cheapie- there's no other way to go to Disney World!