Money saving tips with kids...Post your advice also.

[Bryan Slater]

If you don't want to spend money at the floral shop to have a surprise in your room, most Disney hotels do allow you to mail a pre made basket to the hotel and they will put it in your room. Also grab glow sticks,bracket,necklaces and rings for the night time parades and fireworks. Also but one in your stroller to help find it once you get off the ride has they can be moved which makes it easier to spot. Also get small bottles of bubbles for kids to blow while waiting in some lines. Bring snacks to the park with you. Disney does supply cups of ice water for free. Bring a mist fan from home. Buy rain coats before your trip. What are some of your ideas?

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

We packed a lot of food from home. Breakfast stuff- granola bars, cereal bars, trail mix, juice etc. We also packed 2 loaves of bread (in shoe boxes so they wouldn't get crushed) along with peanut butter, jelly & nutella. Plus chips, chex mix etc. Lots of snacks- goldfish, animal crackers, squeeze apple sauces. That way, we only had to buy one meal per day and an occasional snack.

We also stayed at Pop Century, a value resort and perfect for kids. Another great thing about Pop is that its the smallest of all the resorts so no matter where your room is, the walk is short to dining/buses. There is really no need to pay extra for a preferred room. We requested a certain building, on the lake side and were lucky enough to get pretty much exactly what we wanted.

We also chose not to purchase the park hopper. Most days, we would get to a park at opening and stay til my daughter was tired, usually 3/4 o'clock. Then head back to Pop. Without a park hopper, you can go back to the same park after leaving so other days, we would go at opening, leave around 1, go back to Pop for a nap, then head back to the same park for night time activities.

All these things worked really well for us and saved some money!

 

[PrincessElaina]

If you have a little girl bring your own princess dress! They're 70 in the stores and the parks are flooded with girls in the dresses, so you're little one will most likely be asking for one. If you want you can pack one and surprise her with it during your trip, I would recommend shopping for one that does not have glitter. The glitter spreads everywhere and is hard to remove! ( also as a tip, the pixie dust that CMs sprinkle your head with is extremely hard to remove including from your hair so be prepared ) if you choose to purchase a glitter dress bring an extra plastic bag with you for packing to minimize glitter explosions!

Also harmony barber shop in MK does haircuts for little ones for 18, but they also can put glitter gel in their hair as well for a great price

(Another random tip) if your child is going to be walking I would suggest not purchasing the princess shoes they will rub and hurt your kids feet! I cannot tell you how many times I've seen kids complaining of this and parents having to carry them due to sore feet!

Same goes with boys of course. Purchase pirate supplies ahead of time or their favorite character perhaps!

 

[DisneyFans4Life]

When we go, we always bring little baggies of goldfish, crackers, fruit loops, etc. for our 2 year old daughter to munch on. They are easily stuffed into the diaper (which is now turning into a pull up) bag and then we'll bring a small lunch box with ice packs in it to keep pouches and milk chilled. Typically we have enough milk for lunch and then we'll get another milk at the restaurant for dinner.

We'll also bring little glow sticks and other toys for entertainment purposes.

 

[Bryan Slater]

Love the advice and thank you. Know matter how much I think I know about Disney on tips and tricks To use while there I'm always learning new things daily and always getting ideas on what other people like. Which allows me to explore new ideas that my kids might like. Keep the post coming

 

[jaklgreen]

We would bring little snacks with us and also brought the glow sticks from the dollar store. As a side note, I hate those damn bubble guns. I do not want to walk through a wall of bubbles. Please leave bubbles at home.

 

[Bryan Slater]

We would bring little snacks with us and also brought the glow sticks from the dollar store. As a side note, I hate those damn bubble guns. I do not want to walk through a wall of bubbles. Please leave bubbles at home.

That's for your point of view and I only got really small bubbles in a duck thing just so bubbles wouldn't go everywhere and all over people. Always have to take other people's feelings into consideration. And great advice thank you.

 

[momof1princess]

We always make up a goody bag from the dollar store and bring out surprises every night, keeps us from buying so many things in the park. They have lots of Disney themed toys and the kiddo thinks they're special treats at the end of the day, for good behavior, etc. She's excited when we remind her that she's got a prize at the hotel, helps to cut down on melt - downs when we leave the park, too.

 

[Bryan Slater]

We always make up a goody bag from the dollar store and bring out surprises every night, keeps us from buying so many things in the park. They have lots of Disney themed toys and the kiddo thinks they're special treats at the end of the day, for good behavior, etc. She's excited when we remind her that she's got a prize at the hotel, helps to cut down on melt - downs when we leave the park, too.

Love the idea w the melt downs. I'm going to try that. Thank you

 

[Belle_MTL]

We pack lunches for our kids. It started off because of my sons allergies, but then realized how economical it is! The few times we stopped at QS they wouldn't eat much of their food because they were too eager to get back to the rides. So by packing sandwiches they eat them while sitting in the stroller between rides. As for us we pick food up quickly here and there. I realize this probably won't work for most families, but it's been great for us...plus we always head back to the cabin at around noon for naps.

 

[NiarrNDisney]

I agree with purchasing Pirate and Princess costumes and accessories before heading to the World!

That being said you may also want to go to the Dollar Store and pick up some, glow sticks, glow jewelry, and other light up toys for night and firework shows. Sometimes I have even seen the water bottle fans which can be a life saver during those sweltering hot days.

Also if you want to start Pin Trading I suggest going on ebay and picking up some cheap lots so the little ones can trade with CM's. Also I have found lanyards to place them on at Party City in many different styles starting at $0.99!

 

[buseegal]

We would bring little snacks with us and also brought the glow sticks from the dollar store. As a side note, I hate those damn bubble guns. I do not want to walk through a wall of bubbles. Please leave bubbles at home.

also with bubbles be prepared to be asked to put away as someone near you allergic to them

 

[Weather_Lady]

If the kids will want to get character autographs, buy and bring inexpensive blank journals or small photo albums (with an album, you can have the characters sign index cards that you slip into the album, along with a photo of the child and the character) and chunky Sharpies. Much cheaper than having to buy them in the parks!

As for games and "things to do during downtime," we save money and hassles by NOT bringing a lot of extra stuff with us -- no bubbles or toys, etc. Instead, we just learned a few simple verbal games ahead of time ("I Spy", etc.) and played those with the kids when we were waiting in a line. Not that we needed it much -- we did our best to make good use of FP+ and early arrivals, so we were rarely waiting in lines over 10-15 minutes.