I need every sneaky trick to get my family to disneyworld on a budget?

[nelson84]

i have cheap plane tickets and staying in a condo for $200 a week. Now need the best deal on Disney admission tickets(I saw some on eBay?). Could use a discount code for car rental and any secrets for cheap parking? Do I bring food into the park? Any sneaky ways to cut costs on Disney food? I see a fountain pop is $3.99????

 

[robinb]

The best deal on park passes is through Undercover Tourist or Parksavers. Check the transportation board for ideas on car rentals. Parking is not cheap and there are no discounts. Yes, you can bring food and beverages into WDW parks, just no glass containers. Some people will bring a small cooler with them and either put it in their stroller or in a locker. You can always ask for ice water at any place that sells fountain drinks.

 

[Psychodisney]

Take a look at the Gift card thread and pick up some discounted Disney gift cards to use toward food purchases. You can earn Disney gift cards through apps like Shopkick.

 

[BridgetBordeaux]

Discount GC accumulation, bringing lots of food and beverage in the park --good

Getting tickets from ebay--bad (you have no way to tell if they are legit/unused/un-expired----and now the cost changes with demand determined in advance.)

 

[lovewdwdvc]

Freeze water to drink and use as ice. Take a backpack with sandwiches fruit and munchies. We would make sandwiches with bagels as they held up. By lunch the water was cold but melted and the sandwiches were yummy. Saved peanut butter for later.

 

[Tiggerlover91]

i have cheap plane tickets and staying in a condo for $200 a week. Now need the best deal on Disney admission tickets(I saw some on eBay?). Could use a discount code for car rental and any secrets for cheap parking? Do I bring food into the park? Any sneaky ways to cut costs on Disney food? I see a fountain pop is $3.99????

How many in your family? What time of year are you planning on visiting? Please don't buy your tickets from E-bay, that makes the hair on my arms stand up in worry. If you're a FL resident, you got all kinds of amazing deals on tickets. Otherwise, Undercover Tourist may be your way to go. Cheap parking.....sorry....since you're staying offsite you're going to have to pay for theme park parking. I believe that runs $25 a day? Another poster gave some great advice on food and how to bring it into parks.

 

[StitchandPooh'sMom]

i have cheap plane tickets and staying in a condo for $200 a week. Now need the best deal on Disney admission tickets(I saw some on eBay?). Could use a discount code for car rental and any secrets for cheap parking? Do I bring food into the park? Any sneaky ways to cut costs on Disney food? I see a fountain pop is $3.99????

Welcome back, nelson84! It's been awhile. Looking forward to hearing the creative ideas

 

[nelson84]

Welcome back, nelson84! It's been awhile. Looking forward to hearing the creative ideas

It’s been years since the last Disney trip, I fell off the wagon. Now got the itch again. I’m sick of the Luxury vacations to Hawaii I’m ready to hit the world hard.

 

[nelson84]

Is cici’s pizza still in Orlando the one by the mini Golf? That was a money saver.

 

[ForMyBoys]

I really hate waiting in line for food at a park so we generally bring in all our own food, but do have one nice sit down meal a day at Disney. When we rent a car we buy frozen PBJ from smuckers and applesauces. I also let each kid get a water flavor like mio, but they usually choose kool aid or whatever. They bring that and a water bottle into the park. We pack tail mix and apples and/or bananas. Have fun!

 

[LovesTimone]

One way to cut cost on food at WDW, is meal sharing, pretty much you can share at most TS ( except Buffets or all you can eat)... just let your server know you will be sharing, and either they will bring you a plate so you can divide up or will do it in the kitchen for you... With that said Tip the server for more than the meals you shared, tip like you were tipping as if everyone order a meal.

Appetizer for meals... DH and I do this alot...lots and lots of interesting appetizers... you can always add a side salad or a dessert to share if you don't think that it will fill everyone up.

Quick serve meals are easily shared... When DD was at home, and a teenager, DH, DD and I could easily share 2 QS meals, and buy a extra drink, or a side salad or fries to add to it, if needed... As well you don't have to order a combo meal... if you want just order a burger, or just chicken strips...while its not shown on the menu board you can order it...

Spending a good bit of time on the menu board, and checking out the food pic's posted...you can tell what you can share at each spot, or when you are in-line look at what other people are carrying to see if it will work out for your family...


Bring water in with you... you can refill them as the day goes on... QS will give you water...

Snacks - that don't melt or are really messy... bring in with you things protein bars, apples, apple sauce pack's, mixed nuts, pringle's cans are great to keep chips and crackers and such from getting smashed... or bring along some cheap containers to hold items...

Since you are staying offsite... You might want to have a big hearty breakfast before leaving the condo.... starting the day out full is always a good option.

Check around where you are staying, for Fast Food, Pizza, Chinese, Burgers, to pick up on the way back to the condo in the evening...

If you are staying all day and are planning to make the fireworks, make sure to have some hearty snacks, sandwich fixin's back at the condo so when you return you can get something to eat without a lot of fuss...

 

[BridgetBordeaux]

Is cici’s pizza still in Orlando the one by the mini Golf? That was a money saver.

The one in Kissimmee? On Irlo Bronson Highway? Next to the Wendy's? Yep....still there. BTW there has been of new stuff added to that stretch of Kissimmee.
The Super Target and the Publix are 2 minutes farther down the road.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Snacks - that don't melt or are really messy... bring in with you things protein bars, apples, apple sauce pack's, mixed nuts, pringle's cans are great to keep chips and crackers and such from getting smashed...

Or wine...but that won't keep you from getting smashed... (kidding, don't try it, just a reference to a recent news item)

 

[3 DD love princesses]

Blaze pizza in DS is pretty cheap. Two adults can split one. All the toppings you want for $10. Cheese is 7-8.

I do Swagbucks to get $1000 a year of free money.

 

[DisArmyWife215]

Take a look at the Gift card thread and pick up some discounted Disney gift cards to use toward food purchases. You can earn Disney gift cards through apps like Shopkick.

Agree! You can use gift cards for park parking and Shopkicks is great! I've earned 6 gift cards since I started using them in July.

 

[siren0119]

Disney allows you to bring a reasonably sized soft sided cooler into the park, it is TOTALLY worth it to plan on eating breakfast in your condo, and bring lunch, snacks and refillable water bottles into the parks with you. That alone cuts down a HUGE amount of food spending. I had a beach tote sized bag (over the shoulder) that had a built-in cooler compartment in the bottom. water bottles, dry snacks and apples went into the main tote, sandwiches and cut up veggies went into the cooler compartment. Take time to look over the restaurant/counter service options and pre-plan what your meal costs will be so you have a good handle on your food budget. That and souvenirs are the two easiest ways to lose your shirt LOL. Remember when calculating that all food will have a 6.5% meal tax added, and any sit-down/table service/buffet meal will also need tips calculated (unless there is specific verbiage stating gratuity is included).

If you have a Target RedCard, you can buy Disney gift cards with the 5% off discount. if you are a BJ's or Costco member, they also sell Disney GC at a discount and sometimes run promotions where the discount is even higher.

Don't ever buy tickets on eBay - you have NO WAY of guaranteeing that they are even valid before buying them, or if days are used up. Especially with the new date-based tickets, I wouldn't even take the chance. Undercover Tourist and Parksavers are the reputable discount ticket sellers that I trust.

Parking - unless you get an annual pass, the parking is what it is. You can get to Disney using public transportation for cheap, but the tradeoff is the amount of time it would take to get to and from the parks, and whether or not there's a LYNX stop near your condo. Uber/Lyft might be about the same or slightly less than the $25 per day it costs to park at the parks, but you can use the fare estimator on both sites to get a general idea if it would be more or less.

 

[DisArmyWife215]

If you have a Target RedCard, you can buy Disney gift cards with the 5% off discount. if you are a BJ's or Costco member, they also sell Disney GC at a discount and sometimes run promotions where the discount is even higher.

Target actually changed their policy over the summer 2018. Giftcards are no longer eligible for the RedCard discount.

 

[siren0119]

Target actually changed their policy over the summer 2018. Giftcards are no longer eligible for the RedCard discount.

Incorrect - you cannot use Target Gift cards to purchase other gift cards, THAT is the change that was made. You can 100% use your red card to buy gift cards. I have purchased them several times over the last few weeks (since we booked our August vacation) at several different Target locations.

 

[DisArmyWife215]

Incorrect - you cannot use Target Gift cards to purchase other gift cards, THAT is the change that was made. You can 100% use your red card to buy gift cards. I have purchased them several times over the last few weeks (since we booked our August vacation) at several different Target locations.

IDK. Their terms say 5% can't be used on Target gift cards or prepaid cards. Mine won't allow it anymore, so maybe they are counting Disney GC's prepaid?

 

[siren0119]

IDK. Their terms say 5% can't be used on Target gift cards or prepaid cards. Mine won't allow it anymore, so maybe they are counting Disney GC's prepaid?

The terms refer to Target Gift card and Prepaid cards like Visa/amex mastercards. Not restaurant or store gift cards. They aren't going to give you an additional 5% off their own store card, otherwise they'd just give a 7.5% discount to everyone and save the middleman. And they can't offer a discount on cards tied to major credit cards because there are rules in place for selling those. Restaurant and shopping gift cards for other companies are handled differently, they are usually purchased at a wholesale price and then resold to the public at face value - so Target CAN sell those at a discount and still make a profit.

I bought $200 worth of Disney GC at Target for $190 yesterday, so it definitely still works.