Planning Your Disney World Trip - a Few Tips & Tricks

Happy Hump Day Friends!

Ok ok, I thought I was done with my Planning Your Disney World Trip series...buuuuut I couldn't help myself to do one more!

Today I'm just sharing some tips & tricks that I found to be super helpful when I was planning and also things I took away from the trip.

Fun ways to get ready for your trip

• Buy or make matching shirts before you go because duh, you'll be in Disney where it's perfectly acceptable to be a complete cheeseball :)

• Gather A TON of the shiniest pennies you can get and lots of quarters to get ready for pressed pennies.

• Use an empty mini M & M's holder to put your pennies & quarters. Have you and your kiddos place 2 quarters then 1 penny and repeat until it is filled. (it costs $0.51 to make a pressed penny)

• Make a Disney countdown chain to get your kids super excited

• Make Mickey Mouse pancakes as a way to tell your kids you are going to Disney (or make them just for the heck of it because they are fun!)

• Watch some youtube videos of the different rides/attractions Disney has to offer.  By doing this, my kids got even more excited!

• Watch as many Disney movies as you can to get familiar with all of the characters you will meet!

You can see a post I did on some of the fun ways we got ready for our trip here

Ways to Save at the Parks

• Buy your park tickets from Undercover Tourist - this will only save you about $9-13 but hey, every little bit helps

• Bring your own snacks/water

• Buy your Minnie & Mickey ears ahead of time (sooooo many options on Etsy!)

• Set a daily budget and stick to it - use a cash system if that works better

• Set an amount you will let your kids spend on souvenirs. (We didn't really set a limit, and thankfully they didn't ask for a whole lot.  We got them each one "bigger" item (I'm talking like $20) and then a couple smaller things.  Their favorite thing we bought them were these little $3 character keychains from the hotel gift shop LOL)

• In addition to the above, you could even buy some "souvenirs" ahead of time and bring them with you.  That way when your kids are begging for something, you can easily whip out something you brought for them.

• If you have daughters who will want to dress like a princess while there, I would definitely bring a dress/outfit from home or purchase before leaving.  You will pay a pretty premium if you wait and buy at the parks.

• Make sure to stop by your hotel's front desk or at the guest relations/services location in any o the parks and ask for a free pin.  They have them for all different celebrations; Birthday, Anniversary, First Visit, Family Reunion, and Honeymoon.

• Bring tons of pennies (see above) and make sure to stop at every pressed penny machine you see! They are so fun to collect! When you get home, put them all in a pressed penny holder

• Bring your own bandaids/advil/wipes/etc - basically pack a mini pharmacy in your bag just in case

• Buy ponchos ahead of time from Walmart or the dollar store

• Purchase misting fans before you leave (they are very pricey in the parks!)

A few more ways to save

• Go to Disney on the off season - if you can swing it, go pretty much anytime other than summer, spring break or Christmas and you will save money (and your sanity)

• Avoid Park Hopper - I mentioned in my series that park hopping is a huge waste of money (in my opinion of course) There is already so much to do in each park that the thought of park hopping just sounds stressful.

• Skip the dining plan - not worth it again in my opinion.  Here's a great site where you can input your info to see if the dining plan is worth it for you or not.  I did this and it told me we were better off without (which is what other experienced people told me as well)

In case you missed my other posts on planning your Disney World Trip - you can find those below:

Part 1 you can find here

Part 2 can be found here

Part 3 can be found here

Part 4 can be found here