If you are budget minded like we are, you want to get the best deals possible while on vacation. I'll bet even if you want to splurge, you still don't want to waste your money! We think these are the best four, and worst four deals at Disney. 

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The Best Deals


Refillable Mugs

We've told you before here, and then again later here why, and how much we LOVE the refillable mugs! We even did the math of how many times you need to fill up in order to break even or, come out ahead. Word has it, there's an extra special refillable mug coming for Mickey's 90th, and we are so excited!! 


Photopass

Our last trip, we bought the Photopass for the first time. In our 6 park days, we had over 900 photos taken by Disney photographers! Wow! We never went out of our way to find them, and while I still used my camera, I felt like it was nice to be able to enjoy the character experiences in the moment, instead of later at home, through what I captured on the camera. 


Quick Service Meals with topping bars or refillable drinks

We love Quick Service, for the speed or ordering, and the budget friendly options that taste great, but we especially love the places that have the topping bars and FREE drink refills! At $4 a soda, isn't it nice to take one for the road, or hydrate yourself fully before you move on? 

Kids meals

Every kids meal we've gotten at Disney has been filling enough an adult could eat it if they wanted! Kids meals come with two sides, and an entree and drink. At Pop, the pizza slice was so big, it didn't get finished, or the two sides touched. That makes for two snacks later!! 



The Worst Deals

What is the best, without the worst? We think these things aren't really deals at Disney!


Photopass

Wait! Didn't we just rave about the Photopass? We did, but if you aren't going to be at Disney for several days, or you aren't into meet and greets, then the Photopass just isn't a good deal. There is a middle ground though, you can look into a one day pass, or buy just a picture or two if there is something special you wanted to have captured. 


Snacks

While we love Disney snacks, not all snacks are a good deal. $2 for a banana? $3 for a small bag of chips? $4 for a bottled water? Ouch! Why not stock up ahead of time on the exact same brands Disney sells, but at Grocery store prices? I'd rather splurge with that Mickey Money for something I can't get back home! 


Forgetting your _____

Ohhh there's not much worse than forgetting something on vacation. Once, I didn't realize that in"helping" pack a suitcase, the youngest was tossing clothes out! The result was the big brother had NO shorts or pants other than what he was wearing when we got to our destination. That was stressful, and an unexpected expense. Same thing when we ran out of sunscreen at Magic Kingdom, and I paid nearly double what I'd originally spent at Target. You can get most anything you need in a Disney gift shop or resort, but doing that, isn't  deal. Convenience costs! 

In room celebrations

I totally get wanting to make a special trip even more special, but the in room celebrations that are offered are just too much, for too little! You can go here to see what is offered, but it's a better deal, and more personalized, to surprise sometime by doing it yourself! A few balloons, some themed surprises like plushies, snacks, towels or toys, and you'll have an awesome surprise, with better gifts than the price of the delivery service. 


What do you think is a great deal at Disney? Anything you'd advise a first timers to skip or pre plan for? 

Recently we talked about how to Disney up your phone, for FREE with Disney ringtones and more, but I want to mention too, that there are times that it might be useful to NOT have a Disney ringtone! 

Story 1

There I was...strolling through the Star War area at Hollywood Studios. "Where are they?" I wondered? "I can't find them!" I had waited, and sighed, and looked everywhere. "Boy, I sure love how they have Star Wars music playing everywhere I go! I just love that Cantina song. Where are they? It's been 20 minutes!" Oh! The music cycled, it's the Cantina Song again! I have that as my ringtone. What?! My phone!" 

You guessed it...I thought I was totally immersed in the Disney theme, and didn't realize that my ringtone blended in so well, I was wasting Park Time! 

Story 2

There's nothing like the Pirates of the Caribbean music! It ads the adventure to the Adventureland at Magic Kingdom! Let the swashbuckling commence! That jaunty little tune helps as you wait...and wait...and wait for the friends who were SUPPOSED to call after Big Thunder Mountain. Sheesh. What's taking so long? 15 minutes later, frantically waving your arms, you see them. "Why didn't you answer your phone?!" They ask. "My phone? You didn't call!" "We did! Over and over! See?" As you pull out your phone they call, and the exciting Pirates music starts again. Ooops. That's a true one too. But happened to Mister Disney! 

We've had a few other Disney ringtone mishaps, and have considered going with Non Disney ringers on our next trip! If you need some, and FREE ones too, you can go here and this blog article from the other week will point you to the best place to get more ringtones of every kind, wallpapers and norification sounds, all for F.R.E.E. 

Are you one of those people that can't pass by a pressed penny machine without stopping for a souvenir? Disney make's it very easy to indulge in that adventure, with over well over 100 different machines on Disney World property! 

You can press pennies, and in a few select locations, you can even press quarters! 

In case you need a place to put all those pressed coins, most of the gift shops sell a nice looking souvenir pressed coin book. Click the picture below to buy one before your trip, at the ShopDisney site! 

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While we have never done anything with ours other than collect, I have seen some amazing things made out of these pressed coins! Necklaces, bracelets and keychains are all ideas if you don't want to just keep them in a book. 

If you have ever wished that you had a map of the locations of each machine, Disney is there to help! Recently they added the location of each machine in the My Disney Experience App, but you can also click here, to go to the official Disney website and browse locations or print maps! 

Are you going to be hunting for these on your next trip? 

​Do you like to Disney up your phone? I do! A year or so I discovered an amazing app that if you don't already know about, you will love! 

Just go to google play, or the apple store, and search for ZEDGE. Zedge is an amazing app with more FREE wallpapers, notifications and ringtones that you can count, all searchable. They have so much on there, not just Disney, but why would you want anything else?!

Search by Disney, or, be specific, like Moana, or Peter Pan. I suggest that you search both ways. It all depends on the person who uploaded it as to how specific they were with the title, I have found Peter Pan ringtones under Disney, but not Peter Pan, and so on. If you are missing the monorail spiel, that's on there too! 

​You can save favorites, download to your phone, and bring a little Disney every where you go!!