I am a newlywed, content creator, and owner/editor of The Scout Guide Pittsburgh! I was born and raised in Pittsburgh, PA – but you may have discovered me whilst I lived in Florida. My husband and I have been back in the Pittsburgh area since Summer 2020, but we are still Florida frequenters. Come follow along my journey of blogging about lifestyle, classic fashion, travel, and so much more.
Another way to save money is using third-party sites to buy your theme park tickets. Examples of those can be AMA travel and undercover tourist. But I always read the fine print because cancellation and refund policies change. Also, check both the Disneyland and the Disney World site. They have an entire page it’s usually titled current offers. And that’s where I’ve seen Canadian resident offers for 20 to 30% off theme park tickets. Free dining plans included with certain hotel stays. Florida / California resident offers, etc. I play around with the number of park days to price it out, typically with Disney parks the more days you buy, the cheaper they become.
Sometimes checking with vacation providers and seeing if clustering your hotel and flight saves you any money? For the most part, we don’t normally go that route, because I like to shop flight sales (and utilize airline points) and use my hotel discount code. For Disney World only we save money by renting a house that’s usually 10 minutes away.
Finally, if you are only planning to go for 1 day there may be employee type discounted rates on one day passes. For first responders or the military as an Trends.
One trick to get a discount if your heart is set on staying at a Disney resort is using someone’s DVC points. That’s right folks you do not need to be a Disney Vacation Club member in order to book those rooms and use their discounts. There are plenty of third-party sites (David’s Vacation Club Rentals as an example) that have been around a really long time that basically play the middle person while you use someone’s points that will not be using them that year. It is a great way to get a DVC suite at a really good discount. But as I’ve mentioned before, always read the cancellation and booking policies, and make sure they work for your family. Also find a reputable company because this transaction would be outside of Disney, this is a third-party transaction, so you need to be pretty confident that they are legit.
Many do not have a cancellation policy so that has been one of the main reasons that we haven’t done this. We know plenty of members and a handful of families that do this often. Because I have stayed at the Grand Californian hotel, and it is one of the nicest hotels, this tip has been appealing.
The majority of the time staying at a Disney hotel is out of the budget, so this tip is a good alternative.
We still have two kids under 10 so this advice is definitely for families with young children. Believe me when I say a stroller is your best-friend on a Disney parks vacation. I am going to be so sad when my kids are older, and we can no longer have this dream vessel to house all of our things.
We typically have a stroller because one or both of our kids at some point are going to get tired and give up. And I cannot carry either one of them for long periods of time. With that said, can you have a great day in a Disney park without a stroller? For sure. And keep in mind that there are also stroller rentals right there in the park but we take one with us because we want to walk from the Howard Johnson five minutes to the front of the Disney park with all of our stuff. In our stroller you’ll find water.
Usually I have a few drinking boxes for the kids and small snacks . That’s a big money saver. Water and drinks are super expensive in the park and it’s so nice to just easily access those. With that said, always check the website on the requirements of bringing in those items. As it stands right now, you need to have a soft shelled cooler. You cannot bring a hard camping like cooler into a Disney park. You also can’t bring glass, so if you want to bring that Starbucks Frappuccino in the glass container from the convenience store that is probably not gonna work for you. Just having snacks in arms length before someone gets hangry is a BIG tip. It can sometimes be difficult to get someone a snack with long lines, or if you have a person in your party that has dietary restrictions.
I also highly suggest packing a second set of clothing for young children, because you never know when they’re going to have accident. Bathroom or food… you never know! Bring layers for everybody in your party. Weather can change quickly. Bringing an extra pair of socks and /or water resistant footwear like flip-flops is great for water rides. Don’t soak your primary footwear for the entire day. If I’m completely prepared, I sometimes have rain ponchos from the dollar store in our stroller because while you can buy them in the park, they are way expensive.
Have a small emergency kit: Band-Aids, blister packs, wet wipes, sunscreen and an additional pair of prescription eyewear for me. Please consult the Disneyland or Disney World site about what items you can bring in because they do have a long list of banned items. While you’re on that same website page, make sure the stroller fits the specifications. We have a double stroller so as it stands right now, I believe you have to be under 21.5 inches wide but again that policy can change. You should always check. There was a time when a family was allowed to bring a wagon! They are no longer allowed in Disney parks, so keep that in mind.
Typically, I book both flights and hotel as the initial step. If you’ve got a bit of flex, and you’re looking at a few time periods that you have time off, set flight alerts and watch for a flight sale. And then I book my flights, and my hotel, in the same day to make sure that those lineup. From there I do take my time with Disney theme park tickets and potentially watch for an offer to come up on their site. With that said, you currently need a valid theme park ticket AND a park reservation. That park reservation is an additional step that has happened since the pandemic. I find you can’t wait too long because of that step. Especially if you’re going down and you only have a very small window that’ll work for those visits. If you are going during a busy time of year, holidays or spring break… sooner the better.