Saving Money at WDW

I plan on saving money while were in Florida by not eating out a lot. Now I don’t plan on cooking too much, but I will make quick foods. Breakfasts will consist of cereal, French toast, scrambled eggs, hash browns etc. Quick lunches (in the parks & at home) can consist of sandwiches (bought or made), frozen pizza, or even delivery! I do want to eat at certain restaurants but if I have a day with nothing planned for lunch we’ll probably just grab sandwiches. Sandwiches are also great late night snacks! Dinner’s will probably be eaten out most of the time but we might order some pizza or stop at a local restaurant instead of eating at the parks. If we do eat at the parks around dinnertime I’m hoping to limit it to snack foods and then grab a later dinner off park property. This will help us save money but we’re planning on being flexible. I’m packing snacks and beverages for the parks each day. I’m not objecting to the snacks at the parks (I’ll probably indulge too!) but if I do it twice a day for the three of us that’s about $25-$30 a day just on snacks! By packing a bag of chips, some fruit snacks, granola bars, and some hard candy we can probably save about $15-$20 a day.

Beverages are a whole different story. Every morning everyone will have a disposable cup with liquid in it. I’m thinking, juice, coffee, or tea. In my backpack I will have a bottle of water and a bottle of pop per person. In the car in a cooler will be ice and more bottles of water and pop. In my backpack will also be the flavor packets so water doesn’t have to be water. We can refill water at the fountains and flavor the drink (I think Disney water tastes funny) so we’ll have free beverages. When we leave for naps or at the end of the day we’ll have cold water and pop waiting for us. I checked allearsnet for water prices and I’ve seen water from $2.00 per bottle to $2.50 per bottle. If my son, my boyfriend, and myself were to each have two bottles of water each day, we’d spend $96-120 for the week on water. Bringing our own is a much cheaper alternative! I have a hiking backpack that I will probably use for the extra beverages and snacks. I’ll probably invest in a locker but I can still carry around “The bag”, as it’s called, but it’s not that heavy after everyone unloads water from it!

In this magical bag of mine will also be my supplies for the park. I’m packing for each day:
Guidebook Contact case Contact solution
Nail clippers Kleenex
Sharpies & pens Nail file
Autograph books Hand sanitizer
Wet One Wipes Sunscreen
Small towels Ponchos
Umbrellas Ear plugs
Sunglasses Headache medicine
Moleskin Band-aids
Baby powder Neosporin

In an easily removable bag from the backpack will be:
My cell phone Eyeglass cleaner cloth Hand sanitizer
Money & credit cards Trivia Cards (for long lines) Playing cards
Id’s Lost child information
Chapstick Camera Reservation Info
Extra SD Card Photopass card
Notice anything with a monetary value is packed in a separate bag for convenience and safety sake. I’ll probably rent a stroller or locker to keep the book bag safe when we don’t need it but I can have my necessities close at hand whenever. I’ll probably use a drawstring book bag for this extra bag. The one I have has the big pocket and two smaller pockets where I can keep my id and such. I’m hoping this will packing will save us time and money.

Deal!

While shopping at target for various household items, I came across a super deal. They had disposable coffee cups with lids on clearance, a pack of 10 for $1.58. I grabbed the last four packs and have them sitting with my disney supplies in my room. I'll now be able to make sure everyone has a morning beverage for the parks and it's less we'll have to carry around during the day. I'm hoping I can recycle these at the parks, but if not, I'm going to make up for it by recycling more at home.