5 Things to Skip at Disney World

BigRedDad

Well-Known Member
Yes, these were posted from someone that has no clue how to save money at WDW. You can save thousands, but that is relative. Most people would never spend that much to begin with. For a comparison, here is how the numbers "calculate" (Based on a 1 week trip in 11/7 - 11/13 for example):

1. WL Courtyard Room (Studio room) - $2,835 (Wyndham Bonnet Creek @BR Deluxe Suite: $800 on the high end) $2,000 savings. Minus the cost to park if you do not have an AP.

2. Meals in room for breakfast, drinks in room, etc. Hard to estimate, but based on us sharing meals, the number of adult drinks I may have, etc. We can save about $300 for the week.

3. Souvenirs...stupid. You can spend $0 or you can spend $100,000.

4. Ponchos: You can save a little, but bringing throwaway or just getting soaked will only save you about $20. No bank breaker there.

5. We never buy Park Hoppers. If we decide we need to park hop while there, we weigh the cost vs benefit. If we hop once, we are then deciding we are going to hop a lot more.
 

Club Cooloholic

Well-Known Member
I really don't love most of the QS options and the sit downs are often overpriced. But its a theme park so deal with it and no I don't plan to bring all my meals, but a dinner orvtwo outside the parks at say Roys or Celebration yes please .
I have not done park hopper a few times...we gave small kids and if planned well and on a ling enough trip there is no need for it.
 

DManRightHere

Well-Known Member
Well...the article is to save money, those are the things you should do.

Her details are all over, but she chose those details to supposrt her reasoning (like any other exagerating journalist :X), especially when it comes to food. There are some good and terrible food deals all over Disney.

EDIT: I can completely disagree on the ponchos, Disneys are very well made and if you don't toss them, you come out better than disposables. The disposables stick to you! At least buy a quality poncho somewhere else to reuse.
 

POLY LOVER

Well-Known Member
To say the food quality is cafeteria grade is so wrong. There are many great food locations, so can get any variety of foods from fast food quality to gourmet. You just need to know Disney to find what you are looking for. I find Disney no more expensive than any other Park in the country and that includes going to a baseball or football game now days. Go buy a poncho at a ball game or a beer, or parking at $30.00 a pop and let me know what that cost you for a family of 4 when its all said and done. And keep in mind thats about 2.5 hours of entertainment.
 

lebeau

Well-Known Member
I frequently advise people to skip on Park Hoppers. We rarely use them. My old boss complains all the time about how Disney suckered him into a PH he never used. For a lot of people, the cost far outweighs the benefit.

I know some people consider them essential. But I'd be willing to wager that the majority of people going to WDW on any given day would be better off not buying the Park Hopper option.
 

Kate Alan

Well-Known Member
I frequently advise people to skip on Park Hoppers. We rarely use them. My old boss complains all the time about how Disney suckered him into a PH he never used. For a lot of people, the cost far outweighs the benefit.

I know some people consider them essential. But I'd be willing to wager that the majority of people going to WDW on any given day would be better off not buying the Park Hopper option.

Like anything else at Disney, it really comes down to the question "What is right for you and your travel party"? For myself and my family, park hoppers are essential - but only because we use the heck out of them. We frequently visit two parks in one day, and sometimes hit up all four parks. We like the freedom of doing rides and lunch in one park and then rides and dinner in another. And especially these days when AK and DHS no longer feel like full-day parks for us, it allows us to get the most bang for our buck, as it were.

For other families I know it would be a total waste of money, because they are perfectly content to stay in one spot for the day, or don't want to have to factor in the time it would take it switch parks, or get their kids from one park to the next. In those cases I would never tell them they should have a park hopper, because it makes no sense for their purposes.
 

habuma

Well-Known Member
I frequently advise people to skip on Park Hoppers. We rarely use them. My old boss complains all the time about how Disney suckered him into a PH he never used. For a lot of people, the cost far outweighs the benefit.

I know some people consider them essential. But I'd be willing to wager that the majority of people going to WDW on any given day would be better off not buying the Park Hopper option.

It depends.

We've always had PH, but admittedly haven't always used them. On those occasions, we wanted the flexibility that they offered, but ended up not needing it. After all, park-hopping has an additional time cost associated with them, so it's better to stay put in one park. So yeah...waste of money.

But for our December trip, we have PH and have planned to use them. That's because 3 nights of the trip involve MVMCP and the MK is closing at 7pm and AK is closing at 6pm on another night. Without PH, we'd have very little to do on those days. (We are planning to see Yehaa Bob on one of those nights and attend one of the MVMCP nights...but PH will come in handy on the other 2 nights.) And we're currently not up for a full day at Epcot, but there are a few things we want to do in the morning on one day and I certainly want to see Illuminations at night. So we'll be using PH to fill in that space in between. So yeah...totally worth it.

As I said, it depends.
 

Much-Pixie-Dust

Well-Known Member
It depends.

We've always had PH, but admittedly haven't always used them. On those occasions, we wanted the flexibility that they offered, but ended up not needing it. After all, park-hopping has an additional time cost associated with them, so it's better to stay put in one park. So yeah...waste of money.

But for our December trip, we have PH and have planned to use them. That's because 3 nights of the trip involve MVMCP and the MK is closing at 7pm and AK is closing at 6pm on another night. Without PH, we'd have very little to do on those days. (We are planning to see Yehaa Bob on one of those nights and attend one of the MVMCP nights...but PH will come in handy on the other 2 nights.) And we're currently not up for a full day at Epcot, but there are a few things we want to do in the morning on one day and I certainly want to see Illuminations at night. So we'll be using PH to fill in that space in between. So yeah...totally worth it.

As I said, it depends.
We normally don't PH, but it's essential for our Christmas Trips. They are much shorter trips for us, and the PH allows us to get everything in that we want to do.
 

ariel90

Active Member
Walt Disney World is probably the most clearly signed place on Earth. It's just about impossible to get lost. Also, if a tank of gas is a financial dealbreaker, it might be wise to skip the trip entirely.

Which is really the only tip that needs to be said. If you can't afford to visit Walt Disney World, don't visit Walt Disney World.

Clearly you underestimate my ability to get lost. I like to save money anywhere I can and I don't find driving relaxing. Finally since you are rolling in the dough I always wanted a wdw vacation club membership at the Boardwalk. My birthday is in a week and I trust t shouldn't be enough for your endless pockets.
 

CaptainAmerica

Well-Known Member
Because money is disposable I expect my wdw vacay membership paid for by next week lol.
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StarWarsGirl

Well-Known Member
I frequently advise people to skip on Park Hoppers. We rarely use them. My old boss complains all the time about how Disney suckered him into a PH he never used. For a lot of people, the cost far outweighs the benefit.

I know some people consider them essential. But I'd be willing to wager that the majority of people going to WDW on any given day would be better off not buying the Park Hopper option.
This woman just clearly has poor planning skills. The park hopper may not be useful for some, but many, myself included, find it useful. About half the days that are full park days for me usually involve hopping, so it can definitely be useful. But if you don't plan, it is a sure thing that it will not be useful.
 

Magenta Panther

Well-Known Member
I've eaten at lots of places at WDW, and I've only had 2 bad meals - at the Moroccan Restaurant Marrakesh, and at the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater. With Marrakesh, I really don't know if the food was bad or if I just don't like Moroccan cuisine. As for the Sci-Fi, I understand that it's changed and improved its menu since I last visited it (I'll have to try it again someday).
 

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