The Frugal Theme Park Visitor – A Few Money-Saving Tips for your Next Trip to Walt Disney World

by Alice McNutt Miller
AllEars® Feature Writer

Feature Article

This article appeared in the May 19, 2015 Issue #817 of ALL EARS® (ISSN: 1533-0753)

The cost of a Disney vacation is rising, and there appears to be no end in sight. Ticket prices have shown significant annual increases in the past several years, and hotel and food prices also continue to inch upward. What is a family to do, if they want to be able to take that once-in-a-lifetime (or once-a-year) trip to the World, and not break the proverbial piggy bank? In a previous article about value related to the ever-rising cost of Disney theme park tickets, I offered some money-saving tips related to ticket prices and promised some additional thoughts about saving some moolah in other areas (see also AllEars.Net TV Show #37). Here are some of my personal recommendations, but make sure you check out the AllEars tips database for more money-saving tips from AllEars® readers like you!

FOOD

• Don’t eat out for every meal. If you are staying in a DVC villa, timeshare or rental home, make use of the kitchen facilities to eat in for some meals. We usually eat breakfast in our DVC villa, getting a few staple items from the resort stores. If you have a car, make a quick stop at a grocery store to stock up, or there are several grocery delivery services that will deliver to Disney resorts. Even if you are staying in a “regular” hotel room, make use of the mini fridge to hold breakfast or lunch items that don’t need to be cooked.
• Share. Most meals at Disney park and resort restaurants are generously sized. The Miller Family often shares entrees in order to save a bit of money, and to save some calorie space for yummy Disney treats. Counter service meals can often be shared between two adults, and neither will go hungry — the 1/2-Chicken and Rib Combo at Cosmic Ray’s in the Magic Kingdom, for example, makes an ample meal for two, as does the Chicken and Lamb Shawarma Platter at the Tangierine Cafe in Epcot’s Morocco Pavilion.
• Eat your main table-service meal at lunchtime. Many Disney table-service restaurants have moved to all-day menus, charging the same prices for lunch and dinner, but there are a few (mostly located in Epcot) that still have lower-priced lunch menus. Coral Reef, Chefs de France, and Tutto Italia are a few favorites where guests can have a full sit-down meal at a relatively lower lunchtime price. While the Hollywood Brown Derby in Disney’s Hollywood Studios has gone to a combined lunch/dinner menu, it does offer some lower-priced lunch specials.
• If you want to do a character meal, choose breakfast, rather than lunch or dinner. Prices are lower for all character meals at breakfast than they are at lunch or dinner. For example, at Chef Mickey’s at the Contemporary Resort — one of Disney World’s most popular character meals — current adult breakfast prices range from about $33 to $40, while dinner ranges from about $41 to $50. Another benefit of breakfast character meals, particularly if you have little ones in tow, is that everyone won’t be all tuckered out yet from a hard day of park touring, making the meal and the character interactions much more enjoyable.
• When dining at Deluxe hotels, choose the less well-known restaurants for your meals. The Wave at the Contemporary and the Grand Floridian Cafe, for example, offer lovely table service meals in more casual atmospheres and at lower prices than their flashier siblings, the California Grill and Narcoossee’s. If you are looking for a nice steak entree for your dinner, you can order a Char Crusted New York Strip Steak at the Grand Floridian Cafe for about $33, while Narcoossee’s Black Angus New York Strip steak is $49.
• If you are planning more than one visit to Disney World in a year, and eat often at table-service restaurants, consider purchasing a Tables in Wonderland card. The current cost of the card is $150 for Florida residents and $100 for Annual Passholders and DVC members. While the cost might seem steep, the 20 percent discount the card gets you at participating table service restaurants on all food and drinks (including alcohol!) can more than pay for itself if you use it enough. (You also get free valet parking at the resorts or free parking at the parks when dining at participating restaurants — show your restaurant receipt with the Tables in Wonderland discount.)
• Carry a refillable water bottle. Buying individual water bottles in the parks can be very expensive. Bring a refillable water bottle with you, find water fountain locations, and fill up whenever you see one!
• Pack small snacks. Tuck some granola bars, bananas, etc. in your backpack so that you don’t need to spend extra money on snacks (except for churros or Dole Whips, of course). Also, if you have picky little eaters in your group, it may be difficult to find snacks that they like. Avoid meltdowns by being able to produce their favorites when they get a bit peevish.

LODGING

• Stay in a Value or Moderate, rather than Deluxe resort. As the names indicate, resorts in the Value and Moderate categories are less expensive than Deluxe resorts. While just about everyone would love to spend their entire Disney World vacation at the Polynesian Village, or the Contemporary, sometimes you need to ratchet back. Even the Value resorts offer amazing Disney theming (and some would argue that they offer the best Disney theming), comfortable rooms, food options and gorgeous pools. The Miller Family’s favorite value resort is the Pop Century (although we have not yet had the good fortune to stay at the Art of Animation Resort), and our favorite Moderate is Port Orleans French Quarter.
• Not all Deluxe resorts are out of reach. While prices for the Grand Floridian and the Poly can be sky high, prices tend to be a bit lower for the Wilderness Lodge and Animal Kingdom Lodge, both of which have all of the Deluxe amenities, and are architecturally amazing to boot. You can also save some dough by choosing less desirable views. (Although it IS really hard to stay in the Animal Kingdom Lodge without a savanna view. We stayed in a pool view room once, and I tried to placate the kids by saying they had a great view of all of the aquatic homo sapiens. It didn’t really fly.)
• Rent a DVC villa from a member. Many DVC members are not able to use all of their allotted “points” (essentially the currency members use to stay in the DVC timeshare properties), and “rent” them out to the public to be used for stays in DVC villas, many of which are part of Deluxe resorts, usually for much less than they can be reserved directly through Disney. There are several reputable agents, such as AllEars.Net sponsor David’s Vacation Club Rentals, who work to help connect DVC members with potential renters.
• Stay offsite. While staying offsite wouldn’t necessarily be my first choice, lodging costs at offsite hotels could be cheaper than staying in a Disney hotel. A quick search on Expedia for hotels in and around Disney World on a random June weekend shows rooms at Disney’s All Star Sports resort (2.5 stars on Expedia) for $134 and a nearby Expedia 4 star hotel in the Downtown Disney resort area for $114. When staying offsite, however, do include transportation and parking costs in your calculations, as these are covered in the cost of the Disney resorts.

MOBILITY

• You can rent strollers, wheelchairs and ECVs IN the Disney parks, but that might not necessarily be cost-effective.
• Bring your own stroller. This is obviously the lowest cost way of doing things, if you have room in your car, or are willing to gate check the stroller if you are flying. However, do consider the fact that your super-duper double mega stroller may be difficult to load and unload from Disney transportation, and takes up a huge amount of space in crowded walkways and queues. Consider a lighter, umbrella-type version, if you have access to one.
• Rent a stroller from a local company, such as AllEars.Net sponsor Orlando Stroller Rentals, and have it delivered directly to your resort. Local stroller rental companies will deliver a variety of stroller types right to your hotel, and will pick them up at the end of your vacation. Do an internet search to see which local companies offer the best prices, and have availability for your trip dates.
• Rent a wheelchair or ECV from a local company and have it delivered directly to your resort. Do the math to make sure that rates offered are better than the daily rental rates at the parks, and make sure that any rental requirements are not prohibitive for your circumstances. Be sure to take advantage of any discounts offered — AllEars.Net’s sponsor Buena Vista Scooters offers a 10 percent discount to AEN readers.

SOUVENIRS

• It may seem counterintuitive, but if you know the kiddos are going to be clamoring for Disney souvenirs, you may want to consider purchasing them in advance, outside of the theme parks and resort hotels.
• Disney World shops have lots of really cool t-shirts, but many of them are relatively generic, and can be pretty expensive. Keep your eyes open as you shop in places like Target and contemporary clothing stores, as they often have Disney-licensed apparel for a fraction of a price that you pay in the shops on property. My favorite source for cool, interesting Disney designs is Japanese casual clothing retailer, Uniqlo. If you live near one of their U.S. stores, I do recommend popping in to see what they have on hand.
• Cute (and inexpensive) Disney-licensed lanyards can be purchased at Orlando Wal-Marts.
• While you are at Wal-Mart, pick up some lightweight rain ponchos. They are less than a third of the price of Disney rain ponchos, and if you are traveling during the rainy season (which, let’s face it, can be pretty much any season in Central Florida) you will need one.
• The Orlando International Premium Outlets mall and Lake Buena Vista Factory Stores have Disney’s Character Warehouse stores, which sell Walt Disney World items that the parks have phased out at a discount.
• If your kids (or you!) just have to shop in the theme park shops, set a budget and stick to it. And don’t forget to ask about Annual Passholder, Disney VISA or DVC discounts.

Well, that’s about all I can come up with for now. What are your money saving tips for your Disney World vacations? Drop us a line, and let us know!

= = = = = = = = = = = = =
RELATED LINKS
= = = = = = = = = = = = =

Money-Saving Magic, Part I

Money-Saving Magic, Part II

Money-Saving Tips from Gary Cruise

Tables in Wonderland

= = = = = = = = = = = = =
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
= = = = = = = = = = = = =

Alice McNutt Miller is a lifelong Disney fan whose fondest childhood memories include “The Wonderful World of Disney” on Sunday nights and her first trip to Disneyland when she was 10 years old. Alice and her family are Disney Vacation Club members, and have visited every one of the Disney parks throughout the world (until the Shanghai Disney Resort opens!). They live in Alexandria, Virginia.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Editor’s Note: This story/information was accurate when it was published. Please be sure to confirm all current rates, information and other details before planning your trip.