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.

Tickets

I’m transferring the money today to pay for our Disney Park tickets. I will be able to purchase the tickets by Saturday. I’m ordering these tickets through UndercoverTourist.com. They have a great website, they are an approved ticket agency for Disney. They do give a discount off of gate prices, they include the sales tax, they offer free shipping on tickets, and if you have read The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World, you will know there is an extra discount offered. I will mention you should check out Mouse Savers also, it is a great site but be sure to sign up for the monthly deals newsletter. With this great link I am able to purchase three adults and one child 6 day with park hopper tickets for $1,050.00. Gate price is $1,065 plus tax (which I think is about 13%). It’s a nice little savings.

Car Rental

We’ll probably rent our car through Enterprise. There are a couple of reasons.
We’ve dealt with them in the past and have not had any major problems. We’ve also found them to have reliable customer service.
They are not the cheapest but are one of the cheapest.
They do not charge for miles. This is very important when making a road trip, you do not want to be charged extra miles because you decided to go to the beach an extra day.
I still have some investigating to do with regards to price but there are 2 ways to get a discount. Go to the Enterprise website and sign up for their e-mails, you will get discount coupons e-mailed to you. I’ve done this and am waiting for the first one to see what it offers. I also went through Southwest Airlines. You don’t have to fly through them but I will probably fly my mom with them so it makes sense to see what else they have to offer. Enterprise was the cheapest on Southwest Airlines website that rented a minivan. As of now they do not rent through November but through October is available so I’ll just have to wait to double check the pricing for when we’re going. Enterprise also offers AARP members a 5% discount which is pretty dandy for those it applies to.

My love of Target

The Target Dollar section is a great way to save money on any vacation. Just yesterday I found rain poncho's for a dollar each. I've also found Nemo themed pens for the trip. I struck gold a few months back and picked up Disney themed goodies for 25 cents each. Target's dollar section has clearance items regularly so you can pick up trip needs for garage sale prices! Check out your local target and save!

Housing

I’ve been asked by many people “How did you manage to find a house so cheap?” My answer is simple, research. I knew a general area of where we wanted to stay, nearby Walt Disney World. I also knew our price range, how many people were going, what our needs were, what our wants were. When I started planning this trip we were staying on Walt Disney World property. We ended up staying offsite because of a few reasons. When the thought of staying offsite came around, I ordered an Orlando Vacation Guide. This book came with many good starting points. The place I rented the house from is FloridaSunshine.com. I searched through a lot of listings to find the perfect house and I found it. It is 6 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms, with a pool and spa. The house ended up costing $1,575.00. This amount was a little over our budget but it’s better to spend a little more to have what you need and have a smooth trip than to spend less and have obstacles to overcome on your vacation.

Lost Child Pack

I'm sort of a paranoid parent. I admit it's not a great thing, but as I'm usually prepared for the worst, I can sort of not be a paranoid parent when it's time to have fun. Being lost is not only terrifying as a parent but also for a child! Imagine being lost in a sea of 30,000 people, pretty scary! I am taking a Lost Child Pack to Disney World. My LCP contains: recent photos of Jake, a full description including height, weight, eye color, etc., fingerprints, DNA sample (both of the last two were provided for free at a saftey fair, and all our contact information for who is in our party. This will easily fit into a small plastic baggie to stay dry and will provide moments of peace just in case something horrible happens while were at the World. I've heard WDW has some of the best security and cast members who are specifically trained to handle these matters but being prepared makes handling this situation easier. I suggest also talking to your children about what to do in case they get separated from you or your party. Jake has been and will be instructed to find the closest attraction/store and find a cast member and tell him he is lost and give them his phone number (my cell number). Some great tips I've read, heard, and discussed are:
Find a cast member when you walk in and point out their name tags, tell your child to find the closest person with one of the name tags and ask for help.
Stay in one spot and call for help, people will help him.
Tell him to find a mom with a stroller and ask her for help. (we tell this to Jake when we go to the mall in case he gets separated)
Write your phone number on the inside of your child's shirt, shoes, or have them carry a tag of some sort with your information.
Dress your child in a bright and noticeable color, or dress yourself in the same color shirt so you can relay what they are wearing.
Take a digital picture of your child every day so you know what they are wearing.

Knowing your child can be separated from you is quite terrifying, but it's best to be prepared. Prep your child, and be prepared and you should be able to keep a clear head until your child is found.