Category — e. What to Budget for Walt Disney World

THE TIGHTWAD’S GUIDE TO WALT DISNEY WORLD

I’ve been publishing material in the series The Tightwad’s Guide to Walt Disney World for months now–giving alternatives to this site’s main guidance on key topics such as when to go, how long to stay, where to stay, how to eat, etc.

But I’ve never properly introduced this series.

So here’s the formal introduction!  [Read more →]

A DISNEY MILITARY DISCOUNT IN 2011?

Disney has not yet announced any Disney World military discounts for 2011.

Steve at MilitaryDisneyTips.com reminds me that each of the last two years the Disney military discount has been announced at the end of December/beginning of January.

He also reminds me that more years don’t have a Disney World military discount than do. [Read more →]

SHADES OF GREEN OCTOBER DISCOUNT

Steve at Militarydisneytips.com has some news about a new discount at Shades of Green! His material follows:

[Read more →]

This is the second page on this topic.  For the first page, click here.

GOING TO HESS, ESPECIALLY FOR BEER AND SNACKS

Even well-stocked Disney stores have a very limited selection. Moreover, as noted above, beer and smokes will kill your budget.

So the answer—especially if you are looking for beer and smokes—Mickey would not approve, but Donald would—is to find your way to getting at least some of your supplies outside of your resort.

There are three Hess stores on property—one of which is accessible to all Disney World resort guests, and another to those staying at a deluxe Epcot resort.

Hess isn’t going to solve “food” problems—e.g. you can get bread there, but not butter—but is great for snacks and other convenience store items.

Note also that you can’t get hard liquor in the Hess stores noted below—for these you’ll need to find your way to one of the two grocery stores listed after them, each of which is accompanied by a liquor store. Hard liquor savings can repay the cost of a cab.

Two of these Hess stores are easily reachable to Walt Disney World resort hotel guests without cars—one near the BoardWalk Inn, best for those at one of the Epcot deluxe resorts, and one near Downtown Disney, best for everyone else. [Read more →]

(This page is part of the series The Tightwad’s Guide to Walt Disney World)

EATING ON THE CHEAP AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

This site recommends here that families following one of its itineraries purchase the Disney Dining Plan, and has other suggestions here for those who can’t, or won’t.

This page addresses a different group: those trying to spend the least possible on food at Walt Disney World.

It’s part of the The Tightwad’s Guide to Walt Disney World, a series about the most inexpensive way  to visit Walt Disney World.

BASICS OF DISNEY WORLD DINING

The basic dining plan can be quite expensive unless you were going to buy the same number of sit down meals anyway.  The quick service dining plan is much less expensive, and, particularly if your kids are younger than 10 when they visit, can be hard to beat.

But even so, neither of these plans will cover everything you eat, and some may wish to spend even less than the cheaper dining plan costs.

The only way to do that is to gather and assemble meals and snacks in your room, taking some of them into the parks with you to eat there.  This works very well for breakfasts, sandwiches—which can be either lunch or dinner—and snacks.

Doing so will cost you time, both gathering your foodstuffs, and preparing them.

The rest of this page has some suggestions on how to gather your supplies. [Read more →]

THREE NEW DISNEY DEALS FOR 2010 AND 2011

Walt Disney World has announced three new discount programs, each of which extends into 2011.

• One discount offers free dining for many nights from 10/1/2010 through the end of September 2011.  (No, that’s not a typo…)  A five night stay with four days of tickets minimum is required.  The deal needs to be booked by December 20, 2010.  See this for more on the free Disney dining deal.
• A second deal offers a Disney gift card valued from $200-$500.  Most dates from 10/3/2010 through February 16, 2011 are eligible—many more dates than are eligible for the dining plan.  A five night stay is required. The deal needs to be booked by November 21, 2010.  See this for more on the Disney gift card deal.
• The third deal offers discounts of between 25% and 40% off of regular room rates, with the same dates and “buy by” details as the gift card.  No minimum length of stay has been defined—although Disney World’s website notes that “minimum length of stay requirements may apply for Friday and Saturday arrivals.”  See this for more on the Disney room rate discount deal.