Sometimes there's a kind of gut punch feeling when you get your Disney vacation quote. Maybe it's because financially, it was a hard year. (Or two.) It could be the fact that Disney never seems to get cheaper. Whatever the reason, it's possible you wonder, "Well, can we do it? Should we do it?" I've talked before about not going into debt for a Disney vacation. I've also talked about ways to get FREE Disney money! You know I'm all about enjoying the same magic, but for less! But what do you do, when year after year, the price goes up, and you aren't sure you are getting the same value? Let's talk about the four elements of a Disney trip. Hotels, food, souvenirs, and tickets. How can we cut costs but still enjoy ourselves? Hotels Without a doubt, hotels can be the most expensive part of your trip! Part of that is because if you are a family of five or more, to stay on property, you'll need a suite or else two rooms. That REALLY adds up. But, let's be honest. Staying on property is pretty expensive. With less perks now for those who do stay on property, you might just be able to save a LOT of money by looking for a resort elsewhere. The amazing thing about Disney, is there are tons of resorts by Hilton and Holiday Inn and others, that cost half (or less!) than a Disney Value Resort, and you get a resort that usually comes with a fantastic pool area (think mini water park!) and other great resort activities, that might include games, breakfast, and transportation, to name a few. If you don't spend much time in your resort room, or if you don't care if your walls are decorated in Mickey Mouse, this might be perfect for your family. Comparing prices between an off property resort, and an All Stars room saved over $1,000 for a week in June. That's a LOT! Food Food...now, some people are foodies, others just want to snack. With Disney having such a generous policy letting you bring food into the park, that might be something you want to consider to save big. After all, the average price of a soda is $5! A great compromise might be a resort room breakfast, a snack from your backpack, and then a huge late lunch in the park. Depending on your appetite, you might be able to split a meal, with just buying an extra side. Dinner can be off property or back in your resort room. We find at the end of the day, we are tired and like to eat light. There's a LOT of stuff you can make or have delivered that would fit that bill! If you make the majority of your beverages water, you'll save a ton, and prevent possible seriously problems, like dehydration or sunstroke! Souvenirs Without a budget, it's so easy to spend your money on the amazing Disney goodies. T Shirts can set you back $30 or more! Disney pins start around $8, and there's just so much that looks fun and wonderful and well, you just want! Define your budget and set limits. Are you wondering how much to bring? Tell yourself, Okay! I can buy something at each park. Or, give yourself a dollar amount. "I can spend $50 at each park." See if you can stick to that! It might be hard but you can still find some great souvenirs. You might not even want to spend that much! Maybe you just want one special thing! It's easy to overspend! Tickets While Disney has moved into ticket pricing that varies by season and day, there is still a bargain to be found. The longer you stay, the less it costs. It's usually around $10 more for days 6 to 7, which might allow you to extend your stay, especially if you are staying off property, and possibly even skip paying for Genie+, since you'd have an extra day or two and not be so pressed to do it all. If you have your heart set on going to Disney, then go for it! There are many ways to save, and the sooner you start, the easier it is. In fact, you might find that frozen pizza really saves your budget! Start braining storming, involve the whole family, and remember...doing Disney simply, and cutting a few corners isn't going to reduce the magic. It's going to help you get back there quicker!
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I admit it...total sucker for a pretty gift card. It could even be empty and a little voice in my head goes Ohhhhhh and it sounds a LOT like the Little Green Men from Toy Story for some reason... A few years back, I was incredibly disappointed when Disney did away with the pretty gift cards! They completely stopped, and only had the red Mickey. I bet you know which one I mean. The one that everyone sells. I'm thrilled that a few months back, they brought BACK these amazing gift cards. Best of all? There are SO many incredible designs to choose from. I bought myself the three above. When you order your gift card, it comes in a nice envelope. And then once you open the envelope...is your gift card, in a beautiful card! The card tells where you can use it, how you can use it, and the value of the card. I'll be honest...I'm not sure what I love most! The pretty card, the pretty gift card, or the fact possibilities are endless...you could frame the cards...make ornaments...bookmarks...gift tags...there's a lot of creative possibilities here. We typically pay off our Disney vacations with gift cards. Here's why! (Hint! I don't pay retail!) And when strolling through the parks, a gift card is how we cover our meals, souvenirs, and etc. The kids also have a souvenir, and one of the ways I like to tell which is the food card, which is Kid #1's card, etc, is by each thing of person having their own separate card. It helps me see if we used all we had budgeted for or not. As a matter of fact, there are a LOT more ways to use a Disney gift card than you may realize! I've got a list of 11 different ways you can use your Disney gift card while on your vacation. Our kids loving making their own purchases too, and it's such a time saver to pull out the Iron Man card and know who it belongs to, or the Darth Vader one. I'm never even worried about my kids losing their gift cards. Why? Well, because of the 10 second, less than a dollar way to make sure you kid won't lose it! When you buy these gift cards from the site, there is a minimum of $25 to get the card. If you are a card collector, Disney Stores and Disney Parks will still let you put as little as $15 on a card. When we vacation, I snag a few of these cards for $15, and gift them along with the kids' birthday cards, or Easter baskets. It's an easy way to help them save. As a matter of fact...one year Santa even dropped some in the stockings! How awesome of him! We are planning our summer trip to Disney World, and there are droids to be build, saber accessories to buy, and more plushies than our van can likely hold, so the boys know they need to save up! Stop by Disney's site to browse their gift cards. What's your favorite? I've so many I love! Photo Copyright Disney Apologies for not updating sooner. After avoiding covid for so many years, well, it's paid a call. This will be a short post, but we are all doing well, and trying to recover and get caught up! Are you a pressed penny collector? My boys are! I'm a HUGE fan of the medallions though! It shouldn't be any surprise that Disney will make sure there are special things ONLY available during the 50th! Places are sharing that the final machines are in and ready for your pressed coin purchases! Here's the official Disney Parks Blog Post. Now, just how many pressed pennies are they? Holy mouse, guys! There are SO MANY! Check out these photos! Photo Copyright Disney Photo Copyright Disney Photo Copyright Disney
Which are you most excited about? Those tags are pretty fun looking! Now, these are scattered all throughout Disney property...that means all four parks, the reports, and Disney Springs. Are you the ambitious sort who wants to collect them all? I know myself...I can be the sort who would want them all, but to be honest, the only ones I want are the generic, 50th anniversary ones. I can't wait to get them in a few months! Remember...the machines have changed! Very few actually take your pennies and quarters now. Most are credit card. Sure, that's fast and easy...but is it as much fun? While I'm not sure how many of the old locations have the new machines, here's a fantastic list of locations to get you started! Several years ago I was packing for my children before we left on a trip to see Thomas the Tank Engine at North Carolina. The toddler at the time wanted to help and kept giggling and bouncing around as we loaded the suitcases with all the essentials. When we got to the hotel the next night, I dug frantically through the kids' suitcase, in a near panic. How in the world could I have forgotten to pack my kids pants, socks, underwear...how?! Why was it only filled with pajamas (Thomas of course!) and t shirts? (Also Thomas!) I remembered laying the outfits together, putting them in the suitcase, and...uhoh. The giggling. The smiles. The...helper. It had been a really long day already. When we'd gotten to the hotel late afternoon, their housekeeping didn't have the rooms ready. We waited until nearly seven that evening before we could get into our room. I wasn't a happy camper. We were also in nearly the middle of nowhere, and now...with no pants, no socks, no extra undies... Thankfully, about a half hour away was a Walmart. The most picked over and tiny Walmart I've ever seen, but it was a life saver. They had shorts, socks, undies...not much to choose from, but they had them! Fast toward about seven years, my kids are much better at helping, and we've never had a pants-less vacation again. But boy oh boy...we've forgotten other things! I bet you have too! Luckily, Kissimmee and Orlando isn't a dead zone. Even better, so much can be delivered, but what to do when it's super late at night, you don't have transportation, and you are in desperate need? Hit your Disney Resort gift shop! That's what! Not only will you find endless munchies, but Disney Resort shops also carry the essentials. While not a huge selection, you'll find clothes, shoes, batteries, hygiene and medicine products, along with those for baby. Not all items are on the shelves! Sometimes you might need to ask for a particular item, but each resort has a surprisingly large inventory, better than you'd think! It's at least enough to get you through until you can hit a larger store. Some of the best places to get apparel are at Disney Springs. With such a variety of stores, you'll find something for everyone. For medicines, baby needs, or hygiene products, there are multiple pharmacies (some that even deliver!) as well as Walmart and Target, right near by! Walmart also delivers, as do several of the local grocery stores. Luckily, if you do forget something at Disney, it's fairly easily replaced! But a helpful tip...don't let the toddlers help pack unless it's their toys! Save yourself that 10pm trip to Walmart as you frantically dash through the aisles! What's not a fun way to start a trip! It's time for the final installment in the differences between Disney World, Dollywood, and Hershey Park. If you've been following along, and need a reminder of what's already been covered, or if you are just joining, here's the links to get caught up!
Part 1 An overview of each park. Part 2 Entry methods, fast passes, staff and maps Part 3 The Rides, games, and app Part 4 The Food Part 5 A Comparison between the three for an overall opinion (You are here!) As I've thought about each park carefully, one thing strikes me. Each park has it's strengths, and it's weaknesses. Each of the three parks is unique in different ways. I'm not sure there is a winner. Disney World and Dollywood seemed the most family friendly. Their rides were designed where they were an experience, not just a county fair style, like most of the not coasters were at Hershey Park. The clear winner when it comes to entry method and staff is Disney. It's always easy to get the help you need when you need it, the lines are well managed and not chaotic, where no one knows where to stand, and they move easily. By comparison, we felt like Dollywood was similar, but Hershey Park, there were no staff members around at all. While it's possible that's a covid staffing problem, it's hard to say. When it comes to food, Hershey Park and Disney knocked it out of the park for counter service treats of all kinds. It's kind of hard NOT to fall in love with a bucket of French fries, but the food was pretty blah and basic tasting. Meanwhile, Dollywood, they sure do have their home cookin down pat! Our meals were tasty and the service was great. We never felt rushed, a contrast to Disney and Hershey Park. One thing Magic Kingdom didn't have that we really enjoyed at Dollywood and Hershey Park were the midway games. We loved the games where kids win every time, and Hershey Park was our favorite for the games, midway and arcade. At all three parks, parking is ample. If staying at the park owned resort, transportation is offered. As you see, pros and cons for each. So, who won? Planning a trip to one of these parks might need to go a little deeper based on these questions. 1. Do you need to drive out of your way to get there? 2. How epensive is it? 3. Is there enough to do for several days? For us, Dollywood was fun, because we happened to be nearby. I don't think we'd ever go out of our way to go there again. Hershey Park is pretty close by, and their cost is fairly reasonable. It's likely we will go again, but oddly enough...not really for the rides. We didn't enjoy the ride choices, and the problems with it being at the ride operator's discretion who got on. We would return for the games, and the Disney Outlet nearby, plus the fact it's just a few hours away. Disney...now Disney, we make that 13 hour drive for. We are always excited to plan and go. There's that sparkle of magic that we got there, we just didn't feel elsewhere. Not just because Tinkerbell is flying around, but because they really do make you feel welcome and valued at Disney. As I think back over our last trip to each park, I realized I only rode three rides at Hershey Park. My youngest was either too scared or too big to ride wat he wanted, so the ones he could do, I spent the two days standing out so he could enjoy himself. At Dollywood, I rode maybe a half dozen. At Magic Kingdom, I don't do the coasters, but you have to pull me off of some of the others! I love them so much! Dollywood and Disney are similar in pricing, and Hershey Park offers discounts that make the tickets quite reasonable. You've followed along and seen my thoughts...but the best way for you to decide is to visit yourself! If you've been to all three, which did you like best? Or, like me, did you feel like each had good things and bad? |
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