We are into part three of the series from our guest blogger, Melissa Jennings. She is the owner of Stockpiling Moms, Guide to Frugal Living. After a recent visit to Disney World, she has come up with a list of ways to be frugal at Walt Disney World. These are great tips for any family visiting Disney or Orlando. Thank you Melissa for all of the great tips!
For my final week of frugal Disney Tips and ways to make your trip more memorable I hope some of my ideas help you enjoy your vacation!
Tip 13: Autograph books: By booking your trip through Destinations In Florida you will get a FREE autograph book for each of your children (when you mention Mommy). I also bought a 8x10 size photo mat from Michael's (using a 40% off coupon) and we reserved this for the princesses sign. I put it into a ziploc storage bag and slipped it into my back pack. The characters really liked signing it and made them feel special. As a result they normally spent a little more one on one time talking to the kids 
Bring sharpie markers for the characters as they need a wide pen to write with.
Tip 14: Bring your own glow sticks! They are very expensive at WDW and you can pick them up at the Dollar Tree and save money and time purchasing them there! They even have swords, necklaces, bracelets and more!
Tip 15: Buy the Disney Dining Plan. It will take away ALL the stress about the cost of the meals. If you are on the dining plan and have a child on the dining plan they do not keep track of children versus adult meals for the Quick Service. You can get adult meals for all of your Quick Service meals! You can share a meal as well and then "bank" your meals to be used later. If you have leftover "snacks" they can be used at the candy shops for souvenirs to take home!
Tip 16: Take your own snacks. I packed granola bars, cookies, suckers, peanuts and more. I also bought from www.staples.com and had shipped to the resort: water, apple juice, snacks and soft drinks. This was waiting on me when we checked in. I have heard that now the resorts are charging a delivery fee. I would call your specific resort to confirm this before you order. You can also purchase from the garden grocer however they have a $50.00 minimum. There is more information on this on http://www.disboards.com
Pack a soft side cooler to take into the park bottled water/juice. Pack snacks too. You will need them waiting in lines. You are allowed to take a soft sided cooler into the park but not a rolling cooler or hard side cooler. They do check your bags every time you enter the park however it was not a major inconvenience and worth the savings. Another tip is to pack individual crystal light, kool-aid, propel packets with you so that you can add them to water. Water is FREE and if you add one of these you and your kids will enjoy a FREE drink over having to use a snack credit!
Make advanced reservations for character meals. It is the BEST way to see the characters. If your child has a favorite or two schedule them quickly because they book up. You will not have to wait in line to see the character’s and can enjoy more attractions. We scheduled 5 character meals and they were our favorite meals! We got to see so many characters and never had to spend time at the parks waiting to see them!
Schedule early breakfasts at the parks and then you get INTO the park before the general public. This is especially nice at Animal Kingdom and Epcot. We did both and it was awesome. Also, go to rope drop at the parks. It is worth it! We were selected as the first family to enter Animal Kingdom...we got to ride the Kilimanjaro Safari first before the park even opened and got 1 set of four fast passes for our family to be used on any ride! This was because we were at rope drop and randomly selected...awesome Disney magic!
Tip: 17 Visit Downtown Disney. We really enjoyed it and there is a nice spray area for the kids to play in. I suggest going in the afternoon or for a late lunch or early dinner to avoid the crowds. We went once at night and there was a long wait to get a bus home...we enjoyed the afternoon much more.
Tip 18: Have your children wear their bathing suits under their clothes or bring a change of clothing. There are so many nice spray play areas that you WILL want to take advantage of. There is one at every park and it makes for a great place to cool down. If you want to see Ariel as a Mermaid the ONLY place to do so is at Ariel's Grotto in Magic Kingdom. This is a fun spray play area and while the kids played, hubby held their place in line! This was one of our favorite moments...
Tip 19: Enjoy your pool! Spend time there every day. We took a break around 2:00 most every day. Most pools are open 24/7 which is nice after a long day at the parks.
Tip 20: Take the ferry and the monorail. I suggest taking every single mode of transportation that you can! We enjoyed seeing how many modes of transportation we could take in one week!
Tip 21: Use the fast passes. They are great! See shows and parades and the 3-D movies. Map and plan out what you are going to do each day or you will waste your time once you get to the park. Take advantage of Ride Switch if you have a little one. This is an awesome use of your fast pass because after your other family members ride you can ride and take someone with you! My niece got to ride Everest four times in a row as a result of us using Fast passes/rider switch!
Tip 22: If you have a little boy or little girl I suggest doing the Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boutique. It is the best money I spent on the trip. $50.00 for the princess makeover (pack your own gown) and the cool dude makeover was only $7.00. They both LOVED it! We did it at Cinderella's castle. They also do them at Downtown Disney. Also available is to get a cut or style at the Barber shop in Magic Kingdom, a less expensive alternative to the Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boutique and still lots of fun.
My favorite sites for research: www.disboards.com , www.mousesavers.com , www.allears.net and www.wdwinsiders.com
Have fun and enjoy it because it flies by and then you are going to be planning your next trip! If you would like to learn how to save hundreds of dollars a month (more savings for your next Disney trip) then visit our money saving website, Stockpilingmom.com
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Good afternoon, We are visiting in November and will have the Quick Service Dining Plan. In regards to Tip #15 above, do you know if this is still the case? That they do no seperate the kids and adults meals? My son is 9 and he wants to order off of the adult menu. Do you think he will be able to? Thanks so much for your help, Cheryl
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