Saving Money At Disney

Hello readers and thank you for making it back for another Muting and The Mouse! Everyone always asks me “how can you save some money”? Well, we will let you know some of the ways that Abby and I save money when vacationing down to the most magical place on earth. I won’t sugar coat it, Disney can be expensive. However, when I look at Disney, I look at a couple of different factors. Some are obvious and some are tricks we have picked up over the years. At the end of the day, the pricing is not as daunting as it seems. I mean after all, a beer at a ball game is the same price as a beer at Epcot. The best thing to do is plan your day. Honestly, this is half of the battle when doing anything at Disney. Saving time and money can easily be done with a plan! I have found in years past, when you tend to stick to some of the below mentioned tips and tricks, it does not sound or become as daunting as it seems. Everyone has a different idea on how to save money and this is not by any means the only way to do it, but it is how I have found some success when booking and planning a trip to Walt Disney World. So, without further ado, let’s save some “bucks bucks bucks” as Big Al at Big Al’s Toy Barn would say!

Booking a Hotel

Start by looking at the hotels, this is the first spot you can save the money for your trip. When booking a hotel, all I really need is a bed and a shower. Yes, it is nice to stay at the deluxe hotels, but for the price on a trip if you are never going to be in the hotel, book at a value resort. Most of them have been renovated and to me, they feel super nice. You can book here for around $170 a night versus the higher rates of $600 and above at some of the other hotels. 

Saving money on the hotel is a very practical way to pinch the pennies while booking a hotel. When we are at Disney, we are never in the room, so why would we spend the extra money? You can save so much money on the hotel and be already off to a great start.

Planning the Day

Next, plan out the day. Plan when you are going to eat meals or plan what snacks you think you would want to eat throughout the day. I have found when you have a plan, you do not just buy every smell that surrounds you. Trust me, there are so many snacks and goodies to eat and the smells fill the air. If you plan to snack or eat at sit down restaurants, you can budget money. If you know what you want you can bring a certain amount of money to the parks each day and when it is gone, it is gone. You can plan out what you want to eat at each part of the day and stick to it. Trust me, this can be done. I find myself looking at menus a lot for things I would like to try and this helps me understand how much money I will spend on food. This leads me to the next point on saving at Disney.

Preloaded Disney Gift Cards

A way to keep track of the money you spend is with Disney Gift Cards. In the past, we have always preloaded some gift cards with a set amount for each day. This way you have a set amount. This particularly comes handy when there are festivals at EPCOT. The gift cards are nice because on the receipts it will tell you the leftover balance. The access to the card in your wallet or pocket is easy. You know what you are paying with and it helps you be a little bit more conscious of what things cost. You add up in your head what things cost and how much will be left on the card instead of just spending the money for your fourth Mickey Premium Bar. This is also a way to budget and keep track of the entire trip. If you only want to budget a set amount for food, put them on the card, this way you are aware and only use the gift cards for food. 

Bring in Snacks and Water

When heading to Disney with kiddos, I have heard a lot of parents and grandparents around Disney say how much money they spend on snacks for their children. I have had family members ask this and the easy answer is bring in your own snacks. You can bring in some small snacks that fit in your bags for the kids to snack on. I mean a baggy of gold fish is a heck of a lot cheaper than the chips you can buy in the parks (we will talk more about food value later). These little snacks for the kids go a long way and can save a good amount of money during the trip. In addition to those snacks, bring in your own water. YES, bring in your own unopened water bottles. If you would rather bring in empty reusable water bottles, do that too. The water bottles in the parks can add up, especially if you have a lot of members in your party. If you do forget water, ask for it. Any of the quick service stands that serve food will give you a small cup of ice water if you ask. Abby and I always ask for these, especially when we eat at the quick service restaurants. 

Share Food and Find the Value Food Spots

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One of the last things I do to save money is share food. When eating at Disney on a hot 95 degree day, the last thing you want to do is eat a huge meal. This is where saving money and sharing food comes into play. The adult chicken nugget meal is enough for two people to share. Abby and I have done this a lot and then we share another snack throughout the day. It is an easy way to save $12 dollars on lunch by only getting one. Piggy backing off of that tip, order the kids menu version. Abby orders the kids chicken nuggets all of the time. It comes with less chicken, but not by that much. The price is better and it really does fill you up for a lighter lunch. If you do not want to pay the prices for a burger or chicken nuggets because the pricing seems high, that is okay, there is food around the park that has better value. Yes, maybe it costs an extra dollar or so, but the portion is bigger, the quality is better, and you can still share the food. This is where the savings add up fast. For example, this past trip we went on, for lunch one day we had the cream cheese stuffed pretzel for a snack around 11:00 AM. This cost us $7.25 and we split it. After eating that, with our cups of ice water (see how it is all connected) we were able to save money there. Then at about 1:00 PM we split the cheeseburger spring rolls. These cost us $7.50 for two of them. At 1:30 PM we split pot stickers. These cost us $6.99 for five and at the end of this, we were full from our snacking lunch. Lunch came in at $21.74 and we were full. If we both would have gotten a burger or chicken nuggets, the price would have been starting at $20 depending on what you ordered.  We tried different foods and were full for THE SAME AMOUNT or LESS money than a hot dog, burger, or chicken strips. These are the things you have to scope out. Find the value and share, because you can really save some money here while trying better and different food. 

Saving money at Disney is a hot topic and there is no right or wrong way! What are your favorite or different ways to save money? Let us know in the comments below and help others enjoy the Disney magic while saving a penny or two. Until next time, escape into the magic, no matter how far!