Disney World tips

[jfroglet451979]

Originally Posted by jadajakebsmom --Pictures. THere are photographers all over at every park. THey will take w/your camara and theirs. For $120 you can purchase a CD and get every copy you want. I know this because my daughter hit Delete All on my camara that had 5 of 7 days of our vacation on it. I was sick about it, so my husband (not a picture fan) said just buy the CD so I wouldn't start crying over lost pictures.

We are planning our trip right now also. I read last night that you can buy the CD for 99.00 if you buy it before your trip. I am not sure the site I seen it on but I will try to find it tonight and let you all know the details. I am planning on getting one also.

[usnchk]

Go to a timeshare presentation in the area, and you can almost get something for free...like Disney bucks.

[cuzisaidso]

Originally Posted by jfroglet451979 We are planning our trip right now also. I read last night that you can buy the CD for 99.00 if you buy it before your trip. I am not sure the site I seen it on but I will try to find it tonight and let you all know the details. I am planning on getting one also.

Disney's PhotoCD Pre-Arrival Savings Offer

We have rented a house when visiting Disney several times. We are grandparents, our daughters and the grandkids. We found it safer for the children when they were very young. Now that the kids older they enjoy our own pool, the many televisions, we enjoy time for them to do homework( we go in off season for ease in 'doing' the park, and we adults enjoy time for ourself after kids are in bed. Its cheaper to give them breakfast at the house, perhaps their dinner too and we eat better. Our houses have several bedrooms, all with full sheets and towels etc. each has a television. We have our own washer and dryer and need not put in coins! We find we can pack less as we wash clothes each day...community laundry..each bringing laundry zip bags for kids socks or items that may get mixed up. We have a dishwasher, stove, microwave, coffeepots and all we can need or want. The neighborhoods are mixed with permanent residents and others are rentals. We find them clean, quiet, and pocketbook friendly. You can find rentals from condos to homes with many bedrooms such as we use. We always get a car( got 2 vans) with car seats installed....... we visit Disney, Universal and Sea World at will and shop or dine as we wish. Food outside of park is easy to find, cheaper...there are also many places that deliver, pizza, chicken, Chinese or other...and even ordering that way is cheaper than park eating. Search internet for places to rent. We rented from an agency but I did look at and contact private owners. Since we go at Halloween or when Christmas shows are on..there are fewer places available..so look early..and if you go to Disney..check ahead of time for Halloween or Christmas shows......the Christmas, Mickeys Magic Christmas was FANTASTIC!!!! Would go and do it again in a heartbeat. Rental from FAMILIES FIRST.com

[BPROSSER2]

If you go on someone's birthday, that person gets in free...register on the Disney website.
The Orlando Entertainment book will help you save on some restaurants locally if you eat after you leave the parks.
When you enter the parks, go left...out of habit most tourists tour things to the right, so you will have less crowds if you go left.

[jodikay1]

How exciting. I took my children a few years back and though we scrimped on most everything to be able to afford it, I'm so glad we did. Your children will be at the perfect age for it. A couple suggestions:

Couponfanatic beat me to it --- water is FREE. I cannot tell you how much money I saved by learning this tip. All you have to do is ask for a cup of water. I hadnt thought of the ko-laid package though --- great tip!

I would suggest not stuffing snacks on the kids. You aren't allowed outside snacks in the park. I figured I'd be able to get away with putting some in the kids little backpacks. A guard was there stopping everyone and actually were asking my kids what they had in the bags. I think that is really pathetic.

We stayed off site in a cheap hotel. If i could do it over - I'd stay onsite - probably at the onsite campground in a cabin -- I like to know my sheets are REALLY clean... I think I'm done skimping on hotel rooms anymore.

Even if I stayed on site - I think that I would go off the grounds to eat. The parks are so overwhelming for little ones (not to mention big ones....). It was nice to take a break from it all during the early evening and "get away". We cooked and ate dinner in our room most nights and would do that again. Relaxing and quiet.

Last - buy your souveniers outside of the park.... Someone gave me this idea and it was GREAT because my kids were little. When I knew we were going, I started collecting items from garage sales and store sales of things with "disney" stuff on them. I hid them from the kids and during the trip pieced them out. They didn't know any different, or probably wouldnt have cared if they did. They just got to have the "gear" and mom only had to pay a couple bucks... OH YEAH!

Have a great time!

[kookiecrisp]

We are going for the first time this year~woo hoo! But I just learned that Space Mountain is going to be closed from April 19,2009 through the end of the year, so plan accordingly. Thank goodness we are going before then or I would have been bummed.

[ourgrankids]

We are going in March luckily we have a time share and are able to use our week during the kids spring break. With no cost for the room we will be able to spend a couple more dollars for fun. Thanks for the suggestions on the forums I will check those out.

[collectorofbells]

don't forget to look for the hidden Mickeys!

it's a great way to keep the kids ( and not kids LOL) busy in line!

[mmandjsmom]

We just went in June....5 people for 11 days for just under $5000. We splurged on some stuff. Our #1 moneysaving tip... bring snacks into the parks. #1 add more fun to the parks tip...touringplans.com. For $9, it gives you a bunch of plans to choose from on how to get your family through the parks, on the most rides, in the least amount of time. We rented a 5 bedroom house for $155/night....best decision we made. Disney on a Dime is a book that has tons of money saving saving tips. We bought lanyards and trading pins on eBay before we left. The kids loved trading pins with the cast members. We also brought autograph books with us. I packed each kids' favorite Disney character stuffed animal ($7 each from the Disney Store) in their carry on suitcase the night before we left. The exact same stuffed animal was $26 each at the parks. Give each kid (and parent) a set amount of spending money before you go. When it's gone, it's gone. Another great tip is that Disney doesn't care if adults eat their kid's meals...plenty of food for me and my husband. The kids meals come with a small drink and cookie, the adults' meals don't. If renting a car/van, try SimplyWheels, a new division of Hertz. It's the same cars as Hertz, just all automated and much cheaper, no one knows about it (except everyone at HCW now) and so there are no lines.

PM me if you want more.