14 Ridiculous Ways People WASTE MONEY In Disney World

Disney World is expensive enough as is without all the extra expenses wasted money missed out savings so let us help protect your budget today here on dfp guide [Music] hey everybody it's AJ for Disney food blog today we're talking about something majorly important the ways guests that means you and me can wind up wasting tons of money at Disney World Without Even meaning to I mean do we ever mean to waste money sometimes sometimes we're like yeah we're gonna go and have a great night out and spend a bunch of money and not worry about the outcome or we budget a certain amount of money just sort of kind of throw away right and that's not what we're talking about today what we're talking about today is when you're missing out on savings when you're missing out on things that on ways to keep money in your wallet and when you're buying things you just don't need or you will regret later because you bought them at the wrong time or you bought the wrong version or whatever so that's what we're talking about today we're going to keep money in your wallet we're going to make sure that you're not spending when you don't have to that you're not spending because you didn't know what you didn't know right okay now first off let's make one thing really clear here I'm going to be talking about a lot of different ways I think certain purchases and missed savings opportunities can lead to some major budgeting issues but at the end of the day this is your vacation so if I point out something in here that you know you or someone in your group is going to want regardless or you've purchased one of these things in the past and have zero regrets whatsoever that's great this is your vacation your budget you can spend your hard-earned money however you want I actually have a video on here somewhere that is called mistakes I make anyway and that's just a bunch of stuff that I know I shouldn't do but I do because that's what I want to do on my vacation so this video is going to be a guide for ways to save or plan ahead so you're not spending money where you don't have to or need to but again this is your vacation it's your choice and you can do whatever you want on your vacation by the way if you have suggestions or tips or if you want to add other viewpoints we welcome that in the comments please let us know your thoughts your experiences your personal choices that might be different from what we're advising here and let us know what your thoughts are in the comments very very helpful for everybody viewing to get a bunch of different strategic and useful and valuable viewpoints so let's start out with a big one this may seem like a good investment on the fly but usually ends up kind of regrettable and we are going to right now talk about ponchos now this is what you're gonna see with this video is we're going to go back and forth between little things that can make a surprisingly large dent in your budget for no useful reason and big things that are going to completely drain your wallet unnecessarily now this is one of those little things that you don't even think about before you go to Disney World but once you drop a hundred bucks on ponchos that you didn't need to drop 100 bucks on that's when you'll be like what in the world why is this happening because when it rains in Orlando it rains really hard sometimes for a good chunk of the day sometimes all day long sometimes for like 10 minutes really it depends on its mood but it's very common to run into at least one or more rainstorm during your Disney World vacation now Disney's no fool they know what they're doing so when it starts raining they put their Disney branded ponchos front and Center at their gift shops ready for you to buy on the Fly and although it's nice to know that these are readily available if you're wanting to stay at least semi-dry and you've got nothing in your Park bag that's going to get the job done those ponchos are way too overpriced a full-size Poncho is going to cost you 12 a kid-sized poncho is 10 so for a family of four two adults two kids you're going to wind up dropping almost 50 bucks just for ponchos that you're more than likely going to just discard or leave in the room now in the Poncho's defense these are re-wearable and decently sturdy ponchos so you don't have to worry about buying one and having it rip on day one although I have had some rip on day one but on the other hand you can get way cheaper ponchos that still protect you from the afternoon showers for a little over a dollar at your local big box or drugstore so you know a little over four dollars versus forty four dollars you get it if you know that being soggy and walking around the parks is really going to kill your mood but you don't want to overpay for a Disney Poncho then pack those pre-purchase ponchos they are very light they don't take up a lot of space and it's worth just having those in the mix just in case I also bring an umbrella because they have those super super cheap super super light they pack up real small umbrellas as well and it doesn't take a lot of space in the bag again it's really light but it has saved me several times that said if being soggy isn't a huge deal for you then embrace the rain and don't pay an extra dime our dfb reporters make sure to wear easy dry clothes like athletic wear and slip dry shorts so that they can dry off pretty quick when they get caught in the infamous Orlando rain but the important thing to remember here is that you don't have to pay fifty dollars to stay dry there are cheaper methods for you to rely on and think about ahead of time so that your piggy bank will thank you later because fifty dollars is fifty dollars in Disney World you could buy a lot of doll lips for that now the next thing on our list this has everything to do with planning for your Disney trip so if you're going on a Disney trip here at the end of of the year if you're going in 2023 even if you're planning for 2024 this is going to make sense this is going to be important this is where you want to start so that you're not spending money you don't need to be spending and that's missing out on major discounts this happens all the time that people don't know where the discounts are in for the Disney trip so they're planning to fly they're planning a rental car they're planning to do an Airbnb or a hotel or whatever all of those things have discounts all of those things you don't have to pay rack rate for so hotels airfare vacation in general you know the drill it's not a waste of money to invest in the things you know you're going to need to go on vacation like a plane ticket a room to crash but that doesn't mean you should always expect to pay full price for everything so here are some ways you can start looking to save the money on those major travel costs okay hotels whether you're staying at a Disney owned hotel or not you're going to want to check for potential discounts Disney will put Hotel savings directly on their website on their special offers deals and discounts page now if you call to make a reservation they're not going to tell you about that discount you just have to know it's there so definitely go look on that special offers tab or also we send out all discounts on our newsletter anyway so if you join our newsletter there's a link in the description it's totally free and we send out any updated discounts and we also send reminders that discounts are ending soon by the way now they'll have savings for specific groups like annual pass holders Disney Visa card holders US military members and Disney plus subscribers but every now and then they feature discounts for anyone planning on staying with them during a select period of time there's always going to be a general public discount that's what we call it general public discount so it's always worth checking now let's say you book a Disney hotel room and then find a really good savings opportunity you wish you would have known about ahead of time no biggie you can still get that discount applied to your existing reservation when you're on your My Disney Experience account click on the future plan section from there scroll down until you find your Disney hotel then choose the change reservation button this should lead you exactly where you need to go to find that vacation offer that you stumbled on there'll be a little thing that you can change that says discount or vacation offer or whatever once you find it Click Change to apply the promotion and receive a new total for your future Disney's day if that discount is applicable to your particular trip sometimes applying a hotel discount can prove to be a bit more difficult than a few button clicks so you can always call the Disney Resort Hotel reservations line that's 407-939-1936 this is usually not a fun time not because the cast members are bad they're great but because the call wait times can be so long so if you want to skip that step and put the responsibility in someone else's hands that's when having a professional travel agent comes in handy now you know we always work with Small World Vacations they do a great job of keeping up on Disney's Hotel savings if you've worked with them in book with them you know that they will go ahead and apply a discount to your hotel without you even knowing about it they'll just save you money so that's super helpful you don't have to worry about changing your reservation you have to worry about getting on the phone and waiting for hours to talk to Disney someone is just doing it for you the best part is that it's completely free if you do decide to go with any travel agent most of them are completely free but if you know definitely check first because if they're charging you something that's not cool anyway Small World Vacations great phenomenal folks they all do it full time and they've been doing this for a really long time so I'll put the link to their webpage in the description below if you're interested in having a helping hand for your dream vacation okay if you'd prefer to keep the planning ball in your own court and you don't really have time to keep checking the Disney World website to make sure you're not missing out on any savings then go ahead and jump into our dfb newsletter list like I said we will send you all the super sweet deals that we find and make sure you're up to date on everything that Disney's offering okay for airfare you're going to want to book those those plane tickets as far out as possible I know that life's unpredictable and sometimes it's hard to solidify those flight days months before your trip but the sooner you can book that flight the more likely you're gonna get it at a better deal since flight prices do fluctuate daily and they get higher and higher the closer you get to your actual travel date now let's say you book a flight with an airline well in advance but you still feel like you paid way too much for it okay cool no worries keep rechecking your airfare price for that same flight leading up to your trip if you find the cost dropping to a way lower price than you paid for there's a chance you'll still be able to change your flight and book the cheaper version instead especially if your airline is still not charging change fees these rules are going to vary between airline to Airline so make sure you're reading in between the lines of your airline's flight change policy before you get to booking but this is something I do all the time I'll book airfare I'll see three weeks later that it's dropped two hundred dollars and I go ahead and change it and then I get that as a flight credit or a trip credit or something like that that I can use later on you can also keep a closer eye on those fluctuating flight prices by downloading free apps like Hopper Google flight Skyscanner apps like these are going to help you track price changes for flights you've been eyeballing and give you an idea of which travel dates are going to be your cheapest options for the month you're planning on flying out most Airlines will publicize this information these places are just codifying it and curating it so that's a helpful thing to track down okay sometimes the thing you funnel your money towards doesn't seem ridiculous until you actually pay the bill and so next we're going to talk about staying in really nice hotel rooms for the wrong reasons Disney's got a lot of swanky hotels you got the Victorian styled Grand Floridian Resort and Spa the wildlife-centric Animal Kingdom Lodge Route on Safari all the time the Coney Island inspired boardwalk in and lots of other high-end Deluxe options that Disney would love nothing more than for you to stay at because money and there are good reasons to invest in these places other than them looking nice if you book one of the deluxe rooms in the Magic Kingdom area on the monorail Loop or the Epcot area within walking distance of the parks International Gateway you're going to have super quick access to those parks at all times this is especially convenient after the parks close for the day and you don't have to join the mass is trying to catch a ferry or a bus you can just walk back to your room the Luxe hotels also have some great exclusive perks like the extended evening hours benefit which allows you to stick around select parks on certain days up to an hour or two after they close to the rest of the public that's a big deal but one of the big reasons guests choose to invest in a deluxe Resort is because they plan on making it part of their vacation they're going to dine there they're gonna swim there they're sitting on the beach they're watching fireworks from their Theme Park View room or participating in fun extras like yoga on the lawn or boating or afternoon craft time but if you are gonna be in the Parks from rope drop to close and you'd rather use your hotel room just as a place to hit the hay then it doesn't make sense to invest hundreds of dollars more in your hotel each night if you're not going to take full advantage of staying in that hotel this is exactly how we felt the first time I paid for a savannah view room at Animal Kingdom Lodge I was there for two days and I wanted to go to all four parks and I was like why am I even spending this money for this Savannah view it's incredibly expensive and I'm not even here to see it I'm not even here to enjoy it and I thought right then and there if I stay Savannah you've ever again I'm just gonna stay at the hotel the whole time I'm not even gonna go to the parks because this is so incredible and I don't want to miss out on it so if that's what you're thinking too you might want to invest in one of Disney's value Resorts like the All-Star hotels they have the most affordable Disney owned hotel rooms on property and they got three fun themes music movies and sports and although Disney's Pop Century and Art of Animation hotels are two value Resorts that tend to cost a little more than the All-Stars they've also got the added perk of being on the Skyliner which will transport you to two out of the four Disney World parks very quickly it's Hollywood Studios and Epcot via Sky Gondola which can also take you over to a few other Disney World hotels that are on the Skyliner route which means more food options for you and speaking of traveling to other hotels you don't have to stay at a deluxe Resort in order to check it out you're more than welcome to dine shop stroll the beaches and take part in those Resorts premium activities if you decide you want to use part of your vacation to explore those Deluxe hotels you can you don't have to stay there to experience them and you just won't be able to do things like see the rooms or swim in the pools or get the extended evening hours that's just for people staying there now keep in mind that traveling to a different Hotel other than your own Isn't So straightforward as it used to be you won't be able to take a Disney Bus between hotels and you won't be able to drive to a different Hotel unless you have a dining reservation at one of the restaurants there if you're on the monorail Loop or Skyliner Loop then easy peasy you can take either of those Transportation methods from hotel to hotel otherwise you'll have to grab a resort bus at one of the parks or at Disney Springs to take you to the hotel you want to go to even if you do choose to stay in a Value Resort to save major money that doesn't mean those hotels don't have their perks too Disney wants to reward you for staying on their property period if you stay at any of the Disney World owned hotels whether it be value moderate or Deluxe you have access to the early theme park entry benefit which lets you arrive at any park on any day of your trip 30 minutes before the parks officially open for everyone else as long as you've got a park pass for that Park so you don't have to rely on a deluxe Resort only to give you that extra time in the Parks if you don't want to Fork over all the extra cash you've got options okay this next point is an easy fix but people still seem to get tripped up over it even now and that's buying tickets for the parks and not being able to use them if this is your first time going to Disney World or if you've gone to Disney World before and you need the reminder if you haven't been in the past couple of years listen up this is important I've seen this happen time and again literally with my eyeballs seeing it happen when I'm in the Parks people think they're in the clear once they've purchased their Disney World Park tickets and yet if you were to travel to Orlando get up to the park Gates and present your ticket and only your ticket then you're gonna be denied entry to the parks sounds harsh but if you don't have a park pass reservation then you shall not pass this way park pass reservations became a Thing Once the parks reopened after the 2020 closures to help maintain and keep track of how many guests were entering the parks each day and because the system is still useful to Disney now to help predict Park demand and to control the flow of people in and out of the park these reservations will be sticking around for the foreseeable future so you cannot put them on the back burner you got to book those park passes as soon as you purchase your theme park tickets and by the way check to make sure park pass reservations are available for your dates before you buy your Park tickets Disney even has a little reminder on their website if you go in to buy a park ticket it says please check to make sure the Park Mass reservations are available on the days you're going to buy your Park tickets and park pass reservations are free so you don't have to worry about any hidden costs there so before you buy check the park pass calendars to make sure the parks you're wanting to visit still have availability on the days you're planning on going because if they don't have availability then you don't want to find out after making your ticket purchase Disney doesn't hide this park pass calendar it'll be at the top of the park ticket page before you proceed with checkout and since we're already on the subject of ticket prices let's talk about another easy way to save money and now not funnel it towards something you're not going to wind up using I'm going to talk Park there are three different Park ticket options to choose from you can get a single day ticket which will allow you entry into one park and one Park only you can get a park hopper ticket which will allow you entry into multiple Parks after 2 pm or you can get a park hopper plus ticket which will do what a regular park hopper does plus give you the chance to visit one of Disney's extras like a mini golf course a big kid Golf Course or a Disney's Typhoon Lagoon water park but if you're planning a Disney World vacation where you'll actually have time to visit a different Park on every single day of your trip then the additional 69 to 89 cost tacked onto each of your tickets for those park hopper privileges may not be worth what you're spending Park Hoppers are useful for those who have a limited amount of days they'll be at Disney and they want to experience as much of the parks as they possibly can and they're also good for people like me who start to feel really restricted if they can't kind of flow in and out of parks whenever they want to but for you it may be better to select a couple of parks than leave the others for a later date that way you don't feel rushed for time and can actually enjoy your day without worrying about what time we have to travel to the next Park and what's great is you don't have to pre-buy these even if you don't pay for Park Hoppers before your trip and you decide that once you get there you'd really like to have the option of leaving your first park for another one during the afternoon you can choose to upgrade your tickets once you get there you can wait to see if you need the park hopper before you buy it and if you're ready to upgrade just go to your My Disney Experience app track down the tickets and passes tab you'll find it under the three horizontal lines at the bottom right hand of your screen and select the ticket you want to add a park hopper to you'll find a change ticket option pop up and the app can lead you through the rest of the upgrade process from there super easy so wait to purchase your Park Hoppers until you get there and see if you actually want and need them that can save you close to four hundred dollars right there now some of you might butt heads with me on this one but I Stand My Ground regardless because there are lots better things you can invest your vacation money towards and that's buying the wrong snacks now I'm not talking about buying snacks that don't taste good or snacks that you know everybody else likes but you won't like even more applicable than even that because yeah it's not worth it for you to buy snacks that you're not gonna like or snacks that everybody else likes and you won't like whatever that's a waste of money too but these two things are a massive waste of money and they always will be first is getting those pre-packaged snacks that are not Disney exclusive these are things you can buy in a grocery store I'm talking about the Lay's potato chips the Hershey chocolate bars the baby Bell cheeses you know the stuff you can find at home for way cheaper you can instacart to your room in the hotel for cheaper as well if you know you're going to want a familiar standard snack at some point during your Park day then plan ahead take a little grocery store shopping trip before your vacation and stock up on these things so you can avoid the hugely inflated Theme Park prices if you buy this stuff in your hotel you're easily spending many dollars more on each individual thing than you need to spend it's not worth it and the other things I suggest you skip are pre-packaged snacks that are Disney snacks so Rice Krispie treats cookies popcorn there's nothing wrong with grabbing them pre-packaged when you're at one of the Disney World gift shops but there are so many places around property you can purchase the exact same snacks but fresh like made that day and believe me they will taste so much better than the snacks that have been sitting on the gift shop end caps for who knows how long you've got bakeries that make treats in-house daily like the Main Street confectionary Zuri Sweet Shop caramel Kusha and Epcot Goofy's candy company in Disney Springs lots of the Quick Service locations around Disney World as well Sunshine Seasons there's tons of really really good fresh stuff around Disney World so you don't have to buy the pre-wrapped rice krispie treats that Main Street flavored popcorn stuff just buy the fresh stuff when you're there and then go ahead and buy that other stuff and take it home give it to people you know give it to your house sitter or your dog walker or something and buy the fresh stuff for yourself when you're there and if you're going to spend over five bucks for a snack in Disney World then it makes way more sense to invest in a Disney World treat you're not going to get anywhere else fortunately the parks and resorts are loaded with tons of unique goodies and you know that we are on top of it for you that's why you're here that's why you watch dfb guy that's why you follow Disney food blog on Instagram we are on top of this for you y'all you know that every single day we are in the Parks we are in the hotels we are looking for all the new snacks the seasonal snacks the stuff that's limited time that goes on to our Instagram account full reviews go on to our blog and of course most of it's in our latest news videos on Saturdays here on dfb guide YouTube as well but if you're looking to make a Disney World snack game plan if you are like me and you want a thorough understanding of what your options are so you can make good choices and plan ahead then head over to dfbstore.com where we've got our dfb snack guides now these are digital downloads that list literally every single snack in the Parks we give you a picture of the snack we give you a little review we tell you how much it costs and you can make great choices that way with those snack guides I promise you will not be buying Snickers and Hershey's and packaged popcorn you are gonna get the best stuff in the Parks we have an incredible editor for those guides she is keeping them up to date all the time so go ahead and pick those up it is over at dfbstore.com don't forget to use code YouTube for a discount now this next Point technically falls into the same category above but it deserves its own bullet point on this script and that is those giant lollipops look I know that lollipop is calling your kiddos name we've all experienced it we've all been that kid right it's huge it's colorful it's sugary it's the size of their face but before you drop seven bucks on one of these bad boys touch base with your kid is this really the treat that they want to settle on because these things are a sticky mess of rainbow slobber everywhere they're really hard to actually finish so if your kids finished with it after six licks which is what's gonna happen now you've got to figure out what to do with it worst case scenario you throw it away and that's seven dollars down the drain that could have been used for something awesome if you know ahead of time that this is something your kid is gonna want and not back down from or even you for that matter because I understand that sometimes the siren song of the giant swirly lollipop is just too much for all of us then bring a big old Ziploc baggie that way you can save this swirling colorful treat for later instead of just tossing it out as soon as the flavor gets boring which it will now this won't make it any less sticky but it'll at least preserve it for when your sweet tooth strikes back up again all right wasting money on food is something that happens more often than you'd think that's why we do what we do here at dfb guide we eat at every single restaurant we eat every new thing that comes to Disney World so that we can help you understand what it's like and if it's worth it so here's a very specific point that you'll either a relate to a little too much or B you'll want to avoid relating to at all costs and that is booking a restaurant that lets you down this is a huge waste of money for so many people in Disney World and it's very hard to actually predict which ones are gonna do this let's say the last time you booked a table at the plaza restaurant in Magic Kingdom was toward the beginning of the 50th anniversary celebration and you ordered the Monte Cristo you loved the Monte Cristo of course you did it's incredible so much so that when you decided to travel to Disney World again A year later you booked another reservation for the Plaza Restaurant because you wanted that Monte Cristo because you couldn't stop thinking about it all year but when you got there the Monte Cristo was not on the menu now you're sitting there pouting because you really don't want to order anything else here and the reason you booked that dumb reservation in the first place was for the Monte Cristo and the Monte Cristo only otherwise you would have gone somewhere else like Disneyland now Disney World changes up its restaurant menus a lot and though it's nice to see them rotating things out with new choices to keep things fresh and interesting it's also a huge bummer if one of your all-time favorites had to be sacrificed in the process that's why it's so so so so important to look over these restaurant menus before you commit to a reservation Disney's got menus for all their restaurants listed on their website you can check at any time and on the dfu website we write posts every single week about all the menu changes that have happened in Disney World so that's super useful again join the newsletter free down in the description click the link definitely be on the lookout for menu changes and if you do make a reservation for a restaurant make sure you're gonna like more than one thing there just in case the menu decides to switch up on you at the last minute which it can do it's always a good idea to have a plan B or C or D and there are some ways people waste money that we sometimes waste money on too like all the time so we're going to talk about the Mickey balloons now Mickey balloons are great okay they're wonderful and amazing and we love them and we buy them too but admittedly they can be a terrible souvenir first of all there's always the potential that it could pop or someone's gonna let it go and that causes a major meltdown in maybe kills birds and they're a pain to get back home as well you're not going to be able to take them on the plane unless you deflate them and re-inflate them later on which is totally an option but kind of a hassle you also can't take your balloons to Disney's Animal Kingdom or Animal Kingdom Lodge because that is not healthy for the animals now what other Havoc can these seemingly innocent balloons create well they hit everyone in the face while you're walking by if you tie this thing to your stroller you are a menace to society when you're walking around Disney World they're a hassle to manage on the complementary transportation and if you've got to get up in the middle of the night to pee you might think you're coming face to face with a ghost and just about pee yourself right there hypothetically speaking of course because who would mistake a balloon for a ghost Eva even if it was really late at night and it looks super creepy just floating there because it does my friends it does so before you commit to the balloon decide if it's gonna be worth the monies like really really worth it if you want it for the picture aesthetic there are other ways to get that done without paying for a single balloon ask the cast member holding the balloons if you can take a quick picture with them they'll let you hold the whole bunch of balloons if there's not a lot of people around and they'll also be holding the balloons too just so you don't let go of all of them and although it's a pain to carry balloons from place to place you're still going to want to buy that thing at the beginning of your trip rather than the end because you're not going to carry that thing around when you get back home it's just not gonna work so you want to get as much balloon time as you can so you got to buy it on day one now you can bring balloons back into the parks each day except for obviously Animal Kingdom so leave it in the room on your Animal Kingdom day and one way a Disney balloon on your stroller can be useful is that you'd be able to find your stroller in the sea of strollers when you see your Disney balloon so there's that but in general all since a single Disney World balloon is gonna cost you like 18 depending on the design you may find a more sustainable souvenir to be a way better investment like a Christmas ornament Maybe I have a lot of balloon feelings all right let's keep the ball rolling and talk about another souvenir that we adore that can also simultaneously shoot us in the foot if you're not careful and these are those little very easy to lose trinkets Disney pins tons of fun to collect press pennies also fun it becomes a game tracking down different designs and seeing how many you can discover before the end of your trip but you know what's not fun spending way more money than you wanted to on these items only for them to go missing right after your trip or for you know people to stop caring about them like as soon as you get on the airplane so although pins are great to gather and trade around the parks these Collectibles do add up quickly depending on the design and Rarity and individual pins could end up costing you between 10 and 20 dollars a starter set which usually comes with about four to eight pins ranges around 15 to 25 bucks pressed pennies aren't quite as expensive but they're not cheap recently pressed pennies have been costing a little over a dollar per Penny or you can get a whole set for around five dollars or more depending on where you are so yeah dropping over 50 bucks on a few pins or pennies only for them to get lost in the black hole that is your backpack or get swept up by your Roomba or get shoved into crevices of someone's sock drawer is just money wasted so let's fix that if you want to collect one of these items during your trip choose one or the other because collecting both is going to be a hassle and a pricey one at that best to focus on one collection and call it good also make sure you got something to carry these teeny tiny souvenirs in just putting them Loosely in a bag or suitcase is pretty risky but putting them in a little binder or separate pouch or even a designated pressed Penny booklet or pin window bag gives them a better chance at survival now for the budgeting side of things set aside a certain amount of money need to spend on your collection once that money is gone it's gone no ifs ands or buts about it that way you don't black out and come to later only to learn you've blown through not just your souvenir money but maybe some of your food money too because as much as you might want to you can't eat pins and pennies that sounds like something we should embroider on a pillow doesn't it can't eat pins and pennies anyway how many other ways can you prevent wasting money on Disney World souvenirs let's count them this is one of my very favorite tips of all time because nobody talks about this you guys and that's not using discounts in the stores just like travel and hotel expenses sorry I feel like I'm getting really adamant with this video I really don't want you to waste money like I just don't think it's useful so I'm feeling very convicted on a lot of these points so I apologize if I'm sounding a little preachy today anyway just like travel and hotel expenses there are ways you can save on your souvenirs in the gift shops too instead of always paying full price with no questions asked Believe It or Not Disney does run sales in their stores and we're gonna help you figure out how to do it first up if you are visiting Disney World at the end of a festival in Epcot or at the end of a seasonal event like a holiday then you're going to find discounts in the stores you're gonna find 20 off 30 off discounts on Festival items on holiday items so right there in December you're gonna find a bunch of Christmas items that are on sale in October November you're gonna find a bunch of Halloween items that are on sale it happens every year we see it all the time at the end of the Food and Wine Festival all that food and wine festival merch that everybody was lying signed up for on July 15th that's going to be on sale too so when you are visiting Disney World see if there are some sales going on and take advantage of those and those are general public sales anybody can take advantage of those now the next thing to know about is those affinity group discounts so number one annual pass holder and Disney Vacation clubs you have the ability to save 10 to 20 percent on so many souvenirs in the Disney shops and on your Disney food too most of the time cast members are going to ask before you check out if you have one of these discounts that you'd like to apply but if they don't ask it's always worth checking in on so speak up Disney's got a whole list of all the different places these members can see which I'll link down in the description since reading them all right here and now might make your eyes glaze over but you may be surprised to find that it's not just the main gift shops that take these discounts now this is my favorite tip in the world you can get those savings annual pass holders at Merchandise locations that you think of like food locations like caramel Kusha and Epcot that's a merchandise location it's not a bakery or a quick service it's a merchandise spot so whatever you get including that incredible salted caramel gingerbread cookie sandwich The Salted Caramel cupcake those boozy chocolates all that stuff your annual pass holder discount can be applied to those which is amazing if you're gonna pick up a soda pop or a water buy it in a merchandise location don't buy it at a quick service location or a kiosk get it at a merchandise location and get your discount on it okay number two Target red card holders if you're a Target red card holder you already are well aware of the major savings benefit you get you can purchase any Target merch whether it be in shop or online at a five percent discount that includes Disney gift cards that you purchase through their store so if you purchase Disney gift cards before your trip and load up you'll wind up saving five percent on basically everything you buy in Disney with that gift card so it's a great deal next up shopdisney.com before you buy a souvenir in Disney World check and see if you can find it cheaper on the shop Disney website often Disney will put their theme park Merch online and not always but often enough it's worth checking on just in case it'll be cheaper online than it is in the park because if you can find that pair of mini ears you're ogling in the world of Disney gift shop on the shop Disney site instead you may be able to buy it at a cheaper price if there's an online promotion happening now I know you're in Disney World now you want to wear your ears in Disney World I get it okay but maybe there's a spirit jersey or an ornament or something like that that you want to buy that you're not necessarily going to wear in Disney World because it's 100 degrees and you don't have a Christmas tree in your room or whatever see if you can get it on shop Disney cheaper or applying some sort of a shop Disney discount because they do run those 50 off sales every year they have 20 off discounts blah blah blah again all that information will be in our newsletter too so go ahead and sign up for that now next way to get discounts Disney Visa card holder if you're the proud owner of a Disney Visa card you got some mighty fine perks at your disposal you'll get 10 savings on shop Disney purchases sometimes 10 savings on select dining locations and you'll be able to earn rewards dollars when you make your card payments now Disney outlets let's talk about those Disney outlets aren't as prominent as they used to be but there are still a few of them out there many times those outlet stores will have discounted Park items thanks to Disney's Overstock there are two Disney character warehouses you can hit up in Orlando outside of the Disney bubble one is at the Orlando outlet Marketplace off International Drive and the other is at the Orlando Vineland Premium Outlets off Vineland Avenue that's where you're going to find real Park merchandise really cheap now here's a money waster that I had to learn the hard way and now I'm passing that knowledge to you last year Disney released their new travel planning tool Disney genie on the My Disney Experience app while some parts of the planning tool are completely free like the dining tip board and the customized itineraries the premium features like Disney Genie plus and the individual lightning Lane entries will give you access to the lightning lanes for rides and select other attractions as you know these lightning Lanes will let you bypass a main portion of the queue line in exchange for much shorter ride cues to help save you time during your Park day but you can only book one lightning Lane at a time so you need to make sure to prioritize your must-do rides now you're saying AJ why are you telling me this you tell me this all the time how am I supposed to save money where am I wasting my money okay here we go there is a right time to to buy Genie plus and a wrong time to buy it you can only purchase Genie Plus on the day of your visit starting at midnight but lightning Lanes won't go live till 7am so you can make your first lightning Lane reservation before the parks even open when the parks do open that's when the 120 minute rule comes into play even if you haven't used your last lightning Lane reservation you'll still be able to book another one after two hours have passed so although you're only allowed to book one lightning Lane at a time you can still end up stacking these reservations which will make you feel all-powerful and high and mighty and very very smart so you're more than welcome to purchase Disney Genie Plus at any time during your Park day but if you wait too long you're not going to wind up getting as much of your money's worth you're not going to be able to stack those reservations let's say you're at Magic Kingdom and those afternoon ride times are starting to look rough so you decide what the hell it'll probably be worth 15 bucks per person for the day to bypass some of these now here's the downside you'll pay that fifteen dollars per person for Genie plus but that doesn't mean all those lightning lanes are still going to be available by the afternoon lightning Lanes do run out especially on the weekends or during those busier times of the year so it's better to grab them sooner than later not to mention you're not going to get a whole lot of benefit out of that 120 minute rule if you purchase Genie plus halfway through your Park day so if you're toying with the idea of Genie plus make that decision earlier in the day either fully commit to Genie plus and start making your reservations as early as possible or skip it all together and save your money you can still use other free strategies like going to the parks early staying late and using those extended hours benefits for the Disney hotel guests to plan around those inevitable longer cues also remember most of the time Genie plus isn't going to be all that valuable for you in Epcot and Animal Kingdom because there aren't that many rides on it and those ride lines don't get that long anyway so there are other strategies to use to ride those rides with shorter lines so those are all ways to save and and not waste your money on Genie plus don't buy it late in the day and think twice before you buy it for Epcot or Animal Kingdom now you'd think that if you pay a lot of money for something you're gonna use said something any chance you get but there are some Disney World purchases that tend to escape our minds even if we dropped 169 bucks on them yep talking about PhotoPass next the idea of PhotoPass is great you get to keep a bunch of professional family photos from several areas throughout the park including the candid shots featured on select rides because who doesn't want their Rock and roller coaster picture stuck up on the fridge as a daily reminder of how a high-speed launch is not flattering for anyone but in practice sometimes the PhotoPass situation Falls flat yep you do save money by purchasing the whole Memory Maker option with all your PhotoPass pictures before your trip because you'll spend 169 bucks for the whole thing instead of 199 which is what the price spikes to if you don't add it on at least three days before your visit but getting as many photo passes as you can to make the 169 dollars worth it is a commitment especially if you have people in your group who don't want to spend time waiting in line for another family photo instead of getting in line for a ride remember these photos aren't really messed with a lot either unless you get a magic shot which adds a fun feature or character into your picture so if you start making up for lost picture time at the end of your day when everyone's sweaty and tired and gross Disney's not going to go in and Photoshop away all the pit stains and dark circles under your eyes what you get is what you get even if you don't wind up purchasing the whole Memory Maker package you can still take photo pass photos and just buy one or two that you really like individual PhotoPass photos are about 20 bucks for a set of two four by six prints or one five by seven or you can get an eight by ten for 20.95 that way you can purchase some a la carte instead of committing to them all want an even cheaper option ask a photo Pass cast member to take a picture of your group with your phone that's free though each location kind of vary is when it comes to those phone picture rules for the most part PhotoPass photographers should be able to do that for you no problemo it never hurts to ask so if you're thinking we're not going to spend a ton of time in line waiting for PhotoPass photos every single day it may not be worth that 160 plus bucks and just buy a couple of the ones you really really like all right gotta mention an oldie but a goody tip that stood the test of time that's right this would not be a dfb video if we didn't warn you about water buying bottled water at the parks is incredibly expensive it's like five dollars a bottle and no I'm not going to give you a tip that's like buy a couple of bottles to share with your group because you guys need all the water you can get to stay hydrated so if you do buy a whole bottle of water please drink it but there are other ways to stay hydrated ways that are going to keep that five dollar per bottle safe and sound in your wallet for starters bring along your refillable water bottle lots of areas around the Parks have fill up stations so you can stay hydrated all day long for free you can also ask Quick Service locations for free water cups too the Epcot festival booths are the exception to that little tip you're more than likely not going to find anything there other than the beverages listed on their menus but at the more permanent quick services around property free cups of water will be at your disposal just ask but don't take advantage I know the water cups aren't huge or anything but don't go up to a cast member and take like 10 free cups for yourself they'll probably cut you off now one last point I want to leave you with remember at the end of the day this is your trip if you want to buy a Disney Poncho buy the Poncho I have many Disney ponchos I had a completely soaked stroller one day and I bought like three ponchos just to line that baby now if you want to try getting photo pass in the hopes you'll use it more than a couple of times do it if your kid has been begging for the Mickey balloon this entire trip and doesn't want any other more sustainable souvenir by all means buy the Mickey balloon everyone's Disney World trip is going to look different and everyone's budgets are gonna look different too just make sure you're planning ahead so none of these expenses trip you up if they don't need to and as always make sure to keep checking back with us for more money saving tricks because we got them all thanks for listening everyone and thanks for watching as always this is AJ for Disney food blog and we'll see you real soon

Channel: DFBGuide

Views: 403,935

Keywords: disneyfood, disney, disney world, disneyland, disneyvideo, disneyvacation, food, disney parks, disney travel, disney tips, disney guides, disney planning, disney trip, disney how to, disney vlog, disney vlogger

Id: CRTioB7Jf7Q

Length: 42min 57sec (2577 seconds)

Published: Wed Sep 28 2022