My question is...are there any items that you pack for Disney World that save you money while you are there?
My number one thing is medicine....if you ever need it you would pay a bundle for it there. What are your money saving items?
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My question is...are there any items that you pack for Disney World that save you money while you are there?
My number one thing is medicine....if you ever need it you would pay a bundle for it there. What are your money saving items?
Because most airlines charge for baggage now I pack as little as possible. With the exception of prescription medication, I only bring advil, anything else can be purchased at Walgreen's in Fl for about the same cost at home. Years ago I brought everything but the kitchen sink, not only did we get tried of carting so much stuff, we found that 80% of what we were bringing never made it out of the suitcase. I made myself stop the "we might need it" mind set and I think it has made everyone happier.
Our vacations are 10 days long and consist of 4 people. I have one semi large (not huge)and 1 medium suit case for all of our cloths and bathroom products. We have one small carry on for snacks on the plane, cell phones, a camera, ipods and DS's. I don't even bring a purse anymore.
I do have Garden Grocer deliver water, soda, a few snacks, bagels & cream cheese. This is more of a time saving thing, because it really doesn't save any money.
BTW we will be arriving Sept 29 and leaving Oct 9th this year so we will be there the same time as you!
Since we drive I can bring pretty much anything want. I tend to have a "medicine cabinet" packed on all our trips. We also bring drinks and snacks for the room, as well as breakfast items. We find having breakfast in the room while getting ready not only saves money, but more importantly saves tons of time. We also throw a few snacks in a back pack for the parks. Not that we mind paying for snacks in the parks, but sometimes its just easier to grab something we already have, plus my kids can have their favorites at any time.
Purex washing detergent sheets. The kind that have the fabric softener in them also. I pick up a sample size at Walmart for 97 cents. It has 2 sheets in the package. This saves about $3 on just detergent and fabric softener per load. the detergent at the resorts are $2 a box
I try to not go with the idea that we might not need it, because as I learned on our last trip, we did need it.
This actually was a Cruise we took to the Bahamas last week. Me and DD did a horse and carriage ride and she got an allergic reaction from the horse. She had her asthma inhaler of course, thank goodness. But we then had to get back to the ship to get her some allergy medicine, because her eyes were at that red teary itchy stage. I realize thats a cruise ship and things may be different, but we were also in Disney for a few days before the cruise and I was hoping to buy her some sudafed because of some nasal issues. But could find none.
Anyway, I just picked up a $.97 bottle of 20 oz Wisk for our next trip.
All kinds of things:
1. Cereal bars, pop tarts, juice, fruit etc. for breakfast in the room
2. Ibuprofen, imodium, benadryl just in case we don't feel well
3. bandaids in case we get a blister
4. Can sodas-its lots cheaper than vending machines
5. Batteries for my camera
6. A case of bottled water-we take one into the park every day and refill it at the water fountains
There are two things that I've found that if I pack saves me a lot of money. The first is quick and easy breakfast foods/snack foods. My kids were brought up on instant oatmeal and love it to this day. Between this and pop tarts we can get from bed to lunch without being too hungry. I also try to pack some snack bars or microwave popcorn for a snack during the evenings
I also bring along the Purex laundry sheets. They're easy to pack and between them and the washer/dryer in the villas, we can get away with packing less, thus avoiding extra baggage charges should we have to fly other than SWA. We can also leave space in our luggage on the way there that gives us space for those things we purchase during our trips. At $25 per bag/person (4)/direction (to & from) this saves us about $200 alone.
Personally, I learned to take cheap sunglasses because I always break or misplace mine on rides. I can't afford to loose my "good" glasses every trip as that can get really expensive, too.
My mantra is you pack it, you carry it.
That has cut down on what we bring, plus I tend to edit what other people pack anyway. This can save on airline fees, BOTH WAYS unless you're flying Southwest. Also, anything heavy or expensive goes in the carry-ons. This too saves on airline fees.
Time and convenience are money. Anything in the IF column goes through a price check. IF I might need it, what would it cost to get it. If the price isn't that bad, then it stays home. Also, if something doesn't get used for a trip or two, it goes in the DO NOT BRING column.
On a cruise though, all bets are off. They got us one time for $12 I think it was for a small bottle of Aloe. Hundreds of miles out at sea, they really got you! WDW? Civilization isn't that far away from the gates.
Something else that I have always gone with is to pack half the clothes you want and take twice the money you think you need.:D
Seriously though, just about every time there is always something that was never worn while on vacation. So in recent trips we have dratically cut back on the amount of clothing that we take and always do a laundry at least once.
I use to pack full bottles, etc. of medicine. Now I take one small ziplok baggy with a few bandades, a small bottle of Advil; small bottle if Exedrine, one "sheet" of allergy pills, Imodium, etc. Just putting a portion of the medicine we might need as opposed to the whole container really saves room and money if we would have to buy it there.
We also pack plastic utensils, bowls, cups, plates, etc. and snacks.
Also, we use gardengrocer to bring us a case of water, gatoraid, gallon of milk, juice, cereal, beer, etc. That is the biggest saver for us!
As a couple of previous posters have said, we bring breakfast foods with us (mainly cereals & raisins). We buy milks and bananas / apples at the resort. This saves time & money. We generally look to eat an early lunch and early dinner to beat the crowds.
We also bring extra hangers to hang up all of our clothes.
Finally I bring ziplock baggies for use when we are on water rides (or for rainy days).
We don't do the ddp, so I ship a case of water to myself via Costco.com ($7) and bring along those individual servings of powdered drink mixes, in case someone wants more "flavor". I also bring my own ground coffee in a ziploc bag b/c I don't care for the WDW coffee.
I bring a travel amount of every type of OTC medicine we may need.
I think this trip I'll also bring breakfast bars to get us past through the early mornings w/o having to hit the cs at the resort-that will save time & money!
If possible, ds continues the same autograph book from trip to trip, and he uses the same xtra chubby markers.
We also bring 1-2 of the few light-up souvenirs we've bought over the years before we realized we should just recycle them each trip. Ds always wants one, but doesn't play with them at home. I put them away when we return home & I break them out again after we've arrived at the parks!
DW and I joined DVC a couple years back, and we book a 1 BR, with a full kitchen, and laundry room. We drive from NY so we pack whatever we want.
DW and I are both handicapped, and use ECVs for getting around. With the ECVs, we carry two one gallon jugs, one with ice water, the other with a drink. We also carry a small cooler bag with sandwiches and snacks. We have our breakfast in the room which saves both time and money. By doing this, we can afford to splurge on supper if we want. You can save a small fortune by purchasing your souveniers off property, the same merchandise for a lot less. If you are a member of AAA, you can get your park admission tickets at a discount.
If you have small children, bring your own stroller, renting at the park ain't cheap. Besides, a stroller can also be used as a pack mule.
Case of water is a necessity!
I've really cut down on the stuff I bring. After a couple of years of having gaggles of snack crumbs in the bottom of my backpack at the end of the trip, I realized I was wasting money. The only thing I bring extra now is a pack of cereal bars for emergencies.
I always carry a little emergency medical kit in my backpack anyway.
Like everyone else, the fact that we have to pay so much for baggage on the airplane has caused us to cut back.
Water bottles with filters.
All the items you pack save you money. We pack it all. Medicine, breakfast foods, snacks, paper plates, towels, utensils, drinks, adult beverages, toiletries, detergent/softner sheets, even prevoiusly purchased WDW items. The only thing we buy when we get there is milk, bread, and lunchmeat.
I love these lists guys. Thanks for your suggestions...I love the purex one.
Batteries, memory cards and toiletries