I know that there have been other threads like this, but I think we could use some fresh ideas!
Give one or two tips on how to save a couple bucks here and there in and around the parks.

Here's mine

1. We usually never pay for parking. We park in the Downtown Disney parking lot, eat at Whitewater snacks or Storytellers, get out ticket validated(whichs brings the free parking from 3 hours to 5) and leave the park for a nap. We come back and do the same thing for 3 to five hours and never pay parking. If walking too much is an issue, we use the monorail in Downtown disney!

2. Whitewater snacks - great place to buy at least one of your meals during the day. We get our drinks refilled right before we leave(for free) and then use the cup for water the rest of the time.
The prices for the food are great too!

Well not really in the park but we saved a bunch of $$ when we stayed at HOJO's at the entertainment rate when we went last week. That was a HUGE savings for us (rooms $59.00 a night).
We also only ate 1 meal at the parks every day. Breakfast we ate at the hotel and dinner or lunch we would get some fast food or pizza.

Bring a bottle of water, or buy one when you get into the park. Refill it from cold water taps in Rancho del Zocalo and Plaza Inn. At $4/bottle, money saved by refilling vs. buying new bottles adds up quickly.

We pack either lunch or dinner and eat outside the locker area or over by the Plaza Gardens. If you have a fridge in your room this helps. We also pack snacks like fish, pretzels and crackers. We will buy one snack there and eat our other ones. :)

We save money by staying at the Homewood Suites or Residence Inn. Both properties include a breakfast buffet (from which we take snacks to the park...bananas, apples, oranges, muffins etc.) and Monday-Thursday they have a manager's reception with "snacks" that are satisfying enough to do us for dinner. As an example, on our last trip to the Homewood Suites, we ate spaghetti and meatballs, fried chicken with mashed potatoes and tacos...all included salad, milk, juice, soda, wine, beer and cookies. It's not gourmet, but it gives us energy for those long days at the park!

We calculated out what we saved over the course of our six day holiday, and figured that the meals we ate at the HS would have come to about $300 in restaurants. Not a bad savings, if you ask me!

We pack either lunch or dinner and eat outside the locker area or over by the Plaza Gardens. If you have a fridge in your room this helps. We also pack snacks like fish, pretzels and crackers. We will buy one snack there and eat our other ones. :)


You pack fish. :D

You pack fish. :D

I'm hoping the poster means those goldfish crackers . . . .otherwise I hope they stay close to first aid!

I'm hoping the poster means those goldfish crackers . . . .otherwise I hope they stay close to first aid!
I was thinking the same thing.

We eat at Pizza Port and usually 2 of us split a meal.

We also split a Monte Cristo at Cafe Orleans (but then we get an order of Beignets...) We don't necessarily split to save money, but more because there is just too much food for 1.

Kids carry CamelBaks to save on water prices.

I have a set of wide mouthed quart water bottles I bought at Costco. I fill one with ice from the hotel and drink the water as the ice melts during the day. It's always nice and cold, plus I can stuff dirty socks in it for the plane trip home!

As Malcon10t previously posted, plitting a meal can definitely cut down on costs. The Plaza Inn is a great place to do this. Their portions are huge (especially the chicken or pot roast dinners) and they also offer a AAA discount.

We travel off season when Hotel rates are low and the Parks less crowded. We always pick a Hotel within walking distance of the park with free parking. I always shoot for a rate under $50 a day. If there is no fridge in the room, We get a styrofoam cooler ($3 at Walmart) and pack it with ice and drinks (including milk) We bring drinks and snacks and cereal from home. We have the cereal in the morning and usually only eat once in the park at a counter service restaurant. Every trip includes at least one trip to "Los Sanchez" Mexican Restaurant for huge portions and inexpensive dinners. We also check out the Character Warehouse to see if there are any great deals on park items.


On our next trip were bringing in prepackaged instant drink mix and asking for the free water and ice at the Disney eateries because the cost of soft drinks are so high in the park now.

We do the character warehouse before going to the park- getting a hoodie for both girls for 34.00 BEFORE we go to the park versus the 54.00 ones they have there. And we get lots of pencils and notebooks for my daughter to give to her friends.
We also save all our coin change to do pressed pennies, keeps the kids occupied before parades and they have great fun comparing the ones they chose.
We also try to do most of our keepsake shopping at World of Disney so that we can pick up just our favorite, must haves instead of buying stuff in every store we pass.
Oh, and we buy the light-up suckers (mickey and Minnie, Pooh Bear) they have at Walmart and take them along to have while we are stuck in our spot before the fireworks or the parade. We always have people ask where in the park we found them, and I have to break it to them gently that they only cost 2.00 at Walmart. And my kids have a blast with them.
And we take dollar store glow sticks, if they make it without mixing on the plane that is!

We always share meals too. We find most the portions to be large and for the 5 of us we'll often order 3 meals and share. We bring in water bottles from outside the park.

Like the mom above we always buy glow sticks and bring our Disney light up toys from home (either purchased from discount stores or previous DL trips.)

I made autograph books for my 3 kids for our first trip in 2005. I made them out of dollar store 4x6 photo albums. We carry 4X6 index cards and a sharpie w/us. We just add to autograph books each trips... the autograph on one side and the photo I take on the other.

We always take advantage of the continental at our hotel(but we're not huge nor picky breakfast eaters.) If nothing else we grab a few apples because they keep well in our back pack and make a great snack.

We bring our own ponchos along. We always bring our Mickey ears along. We got the kids ears in 2005 and they bring them along every trip.

Not a money saving tip... but something for your hotel. Bring along an over the door shoe bag to hang on your bathroom (or whatever door.) Everyone can use the clear pockets for toiletries, socks, shoes, small toys etc and it keep the hotel room more organized and is easy to see & use.

nvmom

wow! great tips so far everyone! Keep them coming! I love the over the door hanger idea! We have a colapsable fabric shelf closet organizer that would work well for that too!

We take snacks and water, also. We also pack our lunches. We have 4 kids, 15, 14, 9, and 6. The younger ones are ALWAYS hungry. There is a grocery store down the street about a mile. We stay walking distance and don't pay for parking. Also for keeping the room neat, I pack my pop-up laundry hamper ($6 at Wal-mart). To keep the kids from getting tired of water I also pack the drink mixes made for water bottles. ( Like Crystal Light)

Coming from Hawaii... Every little $$$ counts.. We LOVE visiting Disneyland... Each time we learn more and more... We always travel at the end of the year when its nice and COLD... We pack our hot cocoa packets, cup of noodles, and I even pack a 3cup rice cooker... I know thats crazy but being from Hawaii we can't eat POTATOES for a whole week... Plus it goes great with the Turkey Legs;) We try not to over pack but we take items that we will enjoy.
Pack lite...pack what u need...pack what u enjoy...pack smart:p

Bring a bottle of water, or buy one when you get into the park. Refill it from cold water taps in Rancho del Zocalo and Plaza Inn. At $4/bottle, money saved by refilling vs. buying new bottles adds up quickly.

You can also ask for cups of ice water at the counter service places with your meals. Since our kids don't drink soda (thank goodness!), we found this out on accident. :) They give it to you in the regular soda cups, usually, so you can take it with you around the parks, too.

The coffee shop on Main Street (the one with the checker board table inside) offers free refills on coffee throughout the day if you bring your receipt back. You don't even have to save the cup! They usually offer a free cup of coffee if you buy a mug.

...but we saved a bunch of $$ when we stayed at HOJO's at the entertainment rate when we went last week. That was a HUGE savings for us (rooms $59.00 a night).


What is the Entertainment Rate and hw does one go about getting it?

We take cans of pop and put them in the stroller. Then at meals we get cups of ice. Most give you a regular size cup but we found a couple this trip that gave us little cups. That just means that you have to fill it more often and the ice is mostly gone by the end of the can, but when you are saving almost $3 per drink it is worth it.

Give up coffee, coffee drinks, and pop for Lent and then make your first day at DL the first day of Lent! :D

Saved a lot of money at $2.75 a pop (no pun intended.)

Truthfully, I will admit, that I never felt better drinking water and more water at DL rather than all the pop I normally drink. And the staff was more than willing to give me a normal size glass of water.

What is the Entertainment Rate and hw does one go about getting it?Buy an Entertainment book (see www.entertainment.com) and then book with Hojo's asking for the Entertainment rate (you have to show the card from the book.) IF the rate is available, it is a GREAT rate.

I suggest skipping buying the ride pictures. They are expensive and not the high quality resolutions that we have all gotten use to with digital cameras. They look better on the monitors then in print. Do use the free buzz lightyear email to send their ride pics to yourself. If you are a group, you can just take your own pics on rides most of the time, just by being in front of someone you know.

And at the risk of heresy, go easy on the shopping, we all know we gotta buy, just direct it to the cheaper options. When with kids I try and save shopping for only the last day, rather buying stuff every day in parks.

For myself, I like to try and focus on finding free things. For example, rather then a door magnet, an unused fastpass on my frig is just as good as a fun reminder and shows the trip date as well!

I always bring the Crystal Light On the Go drink powders. I hate the taste of tap water, they fix it right up. I just reuse the same water bottle all day. When we have all the kids, we usually do a couple water bottles. It saves us a ton of money on drinks. I also bring fun snacks for the kids, even some candy. When they start asking for all the park goodies we pull them out.

I shop ahead for t-shirts, pens, stickers, etc at Walmart, Target, 99cent Store, and the Tracy Character Warehouse outlet (when open). Then I surprise the kids w/ a new shirt or gift each day...really cuts down on the whining in the park.

My son's favorite: Mickey T that says Disneyland Resort, oversized, bought at the CWO, that he uses for character autographs. We bring colored Sharpies and have the characters sign the back. As they fade, I've traced over them with fabric paint markers. There's even some funny memories, like when Donald signed in as "#1", and Goofy later changed it to "#11" and himself to "#1".

Pack every pair of ears, jewelry, clothing that still fits, and wear "All Disney, Every Day" at the parks. Again, cuts down on the whining...

We like to pack snacks and eat a light "lunch" some where quiet in the park. TSI is a favorite spot. Nuts, crackers, string cheese/sliced cheese (keeps cold when packed next to a frozen juice box or two), beef jerky,fruit. We try to get some protein (cheese or hard boiled eggs) into everyone's tummy before arriving as well. Those continental breakfasts dont do much for us.

We use previous tips too, splitting meals is great, who wants to be really full before riding...anything!

We also give each kid a set amount to buy souvenirs and encourage them to wait until the end of the trip, in order to see everything.

I also give them part of their allowance in Disney Dollars in the weeks/months
prior to a trip. Forced savings, and they spend their own money!

Have a great trip! Saving can be as much fun as splurging if you go into it with the right attitude. (For us, it's "We can stay longer or come more often if we don't throw money around blindly")