Budget-Friendly Tips for a Magical Disney Vacation

[janezapchef]

A friend of mine just got back from Disney World with her family of 5 kids and hubby. She posted this on facebook, and I thought these were great!

a fun tip from our Disney Trip: to avoid all the souvenier shops and the Dollars of souvenier shops, "Tinker Bell" chose our special family to deliver gifts to each night we were there. Each of my kids got a Mickey ears hat, stuffed animal, shirt, jammies, beach towel and a movie for 150 bucks! Disney Outlet is the best! I got 5 shirts for $20.00 instead of just one! Made the trip extra magical for the kids.
another idea we did: My MIL made each of the kids their own disney bag. easy to carry over their shoulders. each of the kids had his/her autograph book, pen, sunglasses, chapstick, hat and gloves in his/her bag. so I wasn't carrying all that stuff in my bag. plus there was extra room if they wanted to bring something special in. Elizabeth did carry her baby Edith with her in the bag. stow away!! lol

 

[KimberleePowell]

I just ordered a great bag to carry with me through disney. It isn't too big which is great - I have a tendency to carry to big of bags. It is a Sherpani Pack. The website is: www.sherpanipack.com
The one I purchased is under shoulder bags. It is the "Zoom" under the sport collection. You can click on the zoom and see different features of the bags...

 

[kreaser]

great tips Jane...
some more ideas...my daughter works at the Disney Store here in Ohio at our mall..For Christmas, she put together a "survival" bag for each of her brothers and sister and my hubby and I...There are 5 kids in our family as well. The store has some great items and perfect for souvenirs. Their recyclable bags are the cutest I've ever seen. Great for having the kids carry around the park if needed. She got them T shirts, the stainless steel water bottles with the clips on them, little towels, stuff animals etc...we're set! We will be purchasing any other items we want through the store instead of paying the crazy prices down there in the shops. If you have a Disney store near you, go check them out. If you need to bring back souvenirs for others, go shop there, and just tell them you bought them in Disney..they'll never know..LOL
You can also purchase the "disney cards" for spending $$ down there..they don't do the disney dollars anymore.

 

[chef131doreen]

My director gave me a 25 Dollar disney card as GIFT FOR EARNING DISNEY I say them in the store along with all the gift cards that you see like in Walmart . I had an idea to buy some before we go so that will be some of my spending money to eat ect , kind of like a saving club for myself

 

[chefsteph07]

I think I am going to look for the "backpack" type bags for my 6 yr old to wear w/ her, with all her accessories she needs, sunglasses, sunscreen, etc. If I gave her the nylon bag to carry around, guess who would end up w/ it? LOL
Does the Disney store carry the drawstring bags that I am looking for? Or anyone know of where I can grab one that's not a school back pack? LOL

 

[sklay723]

We got the drawstring backpacks for our kids at Walgreen's right there in Orlando a year or two ago. Megan got princesses and Jeremy got Cars.

Janeza already hit on the goldmine that is the Disney Outlet online. It's really awesome. I get my kids t-shirts from there quite often, and sunglasses, beach towels, etc.

Another piece of advice I can tell you is to pack snacks if you're bringing kids. They have never made me remove food from my back at the entry to the park. Cheese crackers with peanut butter (Lance is one brand), raisins in little boxes, juice packs...these are great for keeping kids distracted when you're waiting in lines for rides and shows.

OOOhhh...I'm sure I'll remember more later, but when you get your photopass card at the park (when they take your picture as you're walking down Main Street toward the castle, visiting characters, etc...they'll scan your card and at the end of the day you can check out all the photos that have been taken)...do yourself a HUGE favor and take a picture of the back of the card using your digital camera. We had a mix-up when visiting Ariel last summer, and the photographer gave us a new card instead of the one that had two dozen photos on it from earlier in the day and Hollywood Studios the day before. Luckily we were able to recover the photos because the customer service there is fantastic, but they told us for future reference that taking a picture of the back of the card means you have a record of the scan number...and that's all you need to be able to pull your photos up online. It's so easy to just snap a photo of it as soon as you get it, and it'll save you a major headache if your card is lost somehow (believe me!!!).

 

[mscharf]

BEST TIP from a FL Native: Bring matching ponchos for your family!! Get an odd color if you can. It tends to rain in an instant in FL and buying Disney ponchos is expensive and DANGEROUS! There is nothing like 500 little kids in a small area all in yellow ponchos, you can loose your own in an instant!!

Also if you have little ones buy the little light up, spinny things from the Disney store before you go. You can get them there for $7-10, but at Disney they are $25!! And they all want them as soon as it gets dark!!

I also buy matching outfits for all three of my girls to wear on the same day! Easy to keep track of them!!

 

[janezapchef]

BEST TIP from a FL Native: Bring matching ponchos for your family!! Get an odd color if you can. It tends to rain in an instant in FL and buying Disney ponchos is expensive and DANGEROUS! There is nothing like 500 little kids in a small area all in yellow ponchos, you can loose your own in an instant!!

Also if you have little ones buy the little light up, spinny things from the Disney store before you go. You can get them there for $7-10, but at Disney they are $25!! And they all want them as soon as it gets dark!!
I also buy matching outfits for all three of my girls to wear on the same day! Easy to keep track of them!!

I LOVE this idea!!! Thanks!

 

[esavvymom]

We got the drawstring backpacks for our kids at Walgreen's right there in Orlando a year or two ago. Megan got princesses and Jeremy got Cars.

Janeza already hit on the goldmine that is the Disney Outlet online. It's really awesome. I get my kids t-shirts from there quite often, and sunglasses, beach towels, etc.

Another piece of advice I can tell you is to pack snacks if you're bringing kids. They have never made me remove food from my back at the entry to the park. Cheese crackers with peanut butter (Lance is one brand), raisins in little boxes, juice packs...these are great for keeping kids distracted when you're waiting in lines for rides and shows.

OOOhhh...I'm sure I'll remember more later, but when you get your photopass card at the park (when they take your picture as you're walking down Main Street toward the castle, visiting characters, etc...they'll scan your card and at the end of the day you can check out all the photos that have been taken)...do yourself a HUGE favor and take a picture of the back of the card using your digital camera. We had a mix-up when visiting Ariel last summer, and the photographer gave us a new card instead of the one that had two dozen photos on it from earlier in the day and Hollywood Studios the day before. Luckily we were able to recover the photos because the customer service there is fantastic, but they told us for future reference that taking a picture of the back of the card means you have a record of the scan number...and that's all you need to be able to pull your photos up online. It's so easy to just snap a photo of it as soon as you get it, and it'll save you a major headache if your card is lost somehow (believe me!!!).

Also do this with your TICKETS! (which are cards). If they are lost, you can easily get them looked up.