Wanderlusting Mama’s tips: How we saved at Disney World

Disney World: Magic Kingdom

Here are some tips which saved us a few bucks in our Disney World trip. Now, these may not apply to your family, but wanted to share with you anyway:

1. We did not get the refillable souvenir mugs which cost about $17+ each. First, the mugs are only refillable in the resort and not in the parks where we were majority of the time. Second, it was just too hot, we only wanted water. Pop does not really quench our thirst so given the choice, we’d pick water over pop anyway. We had brought water bottles and we rinsed and refilled them in the food court. There were also water fountains and quick service places where you can refill your water bottles.

2. We did not get a dining plan. We actually brought over some snacks (you can bring snacks into the parks as long as these do not need to be heated) which lasted us the whole trip. We did buy popcorn and such in the parks but, in general, we ate our own snacks. For reference, each snack would cost about $5. We also shared adult meals with the kids and it was sufficient—again, for our family. Some meals we ordered more, depending on how hungry we were.  We also did some table service dining but mostly we had quick service meals. After all, we didn’t want to waste precious time lounging in restaurants. So quick service worked out really well for us.

Mickey waffles: Quick Service Breakfast at Disney World

3. We pre-bought stuff at the Disney store. We brought over some stuff we already got from the Disney stores in Toronto—we got some pins, autograph books (for character meet and greets), and shirts. So, we didn’t have to buy them in the parks (and in US dollars!).

4. We did not get the Memory Maker. I love taking photos and I would not have left my camera anyway. Also, I did not necessarily always want to look for the park photographer to take our photos. We were always on the go. For our group shots, we did request for help in taking our pictures. The park photos from Memory Maker ended up so few that it wouldn’t have justified spending almost $200 (less $30 if you buy in advance). I do have friends who do not like to take photos so, for them, the Memory Maker would be the solution.

5. We did not do the Park Hopper option. We only had 3 days in the parks so it would seem logical to get the Park Hopper on our base tickets. However, it ended up to be a great decision for us. We spent all day anyway at each park. We would not have had the energy to hop to another park in the middle of the day.  Also, I estimated, it would have just wasted about an hour to get to the gate, wait for transport, and then go to another park. Saved an additional of about $64 per ticket.

Disney World: Epcot

So that was how we did it with our water-loving family of 5--which included a grandma and 2 kids who did not eat a lot, and a mom who loved taking photos.