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mara williams
on Jun 18 2013 - 06:00 AM
Hey, manchild, mama says: clean your room, wash the dishes, don't drink and drive.
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Emily Parnell
on Jun 16 2013 - 06:00 AM
Eating fresh, local produce is good for body and soul
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Jim Cosgrove
on Jun 13 2013 - 06:00 AM
I just want to buy some pants. Please, turn down the music.
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I'm crazy about saving money. I clip the coupons, visit mom couponing blogs, watch ads and have gone through many ink cartridges printing out deals.
I pretty much refuse to pay full price for anything (well there was a dress recently, but it was definitely worth it.)
Nothing like the feeling of saving tons of money.
I guessed I just figured I'd be able to find lots of ways to save at Disney World this summer. We go next month and are wildly excited about the youngest's first time in Florida and the parks.
But for days I've been searching the Internet for discounts and bargains. The condo and park tickets are taken care of (gotta love my generous sister) but I'm looking for ways to save on the rental car, restaurants, souvenirs and park food. And other events around town.
I'm coming up with nothing. Sure, I've read tips from moms about taking in your own bottled water and snacks, (apparently a bottle of water is nearly $4) and I've already bought two Tshirts at the Disney store for just a few bucks.
What I'm really hoping for is others tips and coupons. I think I've become so addicted to saving money that I'll be crushed if I find myself paying full price for things.
Oldest has been to WDW twice, once when he was four and again the next year. The trip when he was five was just perfect But because I was a single mom at the time I overindugled. His souvenir budget was $20 a day. Now, that just makes me laugh. Really hard.
And we had two meals a day at the parks. What was I, crazy?
Oh, how I've changed. But I still want all the fun that I paid for a decade ago.
So I'm making lists. We're taking rain ponchos with us and hitting a Wal-Mart once we arrive. Any other suggestions? Anybody saved tons of money at Walt Disney?
I'll try just about anything, as long as it's legal.
Laura, Have you tried mousesavers.com? I would assume you have found it, but they offer all kinds of tips and discounts. Have a great trip!We were there in January and I heard a Mom on the Disney bus call the entire experience the Mouse Money Trap. I don't think she's too far off! There is a Target near the Millenium Mall maybe? There is a meal plan for on-property hotels that you can arrange BEFORE arrival. Don't know if anyone has used that or not? We did enjoy a family-style dinner at Liberty House Tavern at Magic one night.Never been, but I heard if the kids are young enough, hit garage sales for other people's Disney souvenirs, like cups, trinkets, etc. Your youngest won't know the difference if you have time to look and IF you find the right garage sale. Do you remember which souvenirs were really important 3 weeks after the last trip? Maybe get just those for the youngest?I just read this so hopefully I am not too late. I just wanted to say that my family went to Disney World last year. It was me, my husband and our two children (I was 6 months pregnant with our third). We stayed onsite (one of the moderate Disney resorts) and used the Disney meal plan. It was awesome. We would eat breakfast at our hotel but then have lunch, dinner and snacks in the park. If you are on the meal plan you can also use it toward the character meals (even dinner in Cinderella's castle). Our lunch was usually a fast food sort of place, but our dinners were at nice sit down restaurants with great food. We all enjoyed being able to have a nice meal every day and just relax. You have to make reservations, though, because the places are busy. You can do it all online now. At the end of the trip I calculated how much we would have spent on meals had we not had the meal plan. I cannot remember the exact number, but it was at least $250.Just to clarify - the snacks, lunches and dinners were paid for using the meal plan. The breakfasts at our hotel were paid for out of pocket. That is how we chose to use our meal plan.I haven't been to the Mouse Money trap in about 11 years, but can't you take your own snacks in? Bottled water? If we get a souvenir, it's one per person. You want more, buy it yourself.we went last year and did the dining plan and i calculated the 30% savings based on what we did. having said that, i learned a lot on what we would/would not do next time. i think we would definitely eat in our room some rather than @park and scale back the plan we choose. i saw many families eating a sandwich in line for various attractions. being my first time to WDW i didn't want to take that challenge on with my 20 month old and nearly 4 yr old. however they looked like seasoned travelers which we were not. i did take my own non-disney snacks in without problem. bought the water with my snack credits. didn't pay attention to the price in my mind the $$ was gone as it was all pre-paid. have a great time!!
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