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Over the past several months, I have shared ways to do Disney on a Budget, I am going to give you a summary of 10 things that we did that saved us money on our Disney World vacation.
1. We stayed “off property”. We have a large family, and staying on site didn’t make sense for us, we really needed more room than the Disney hotels had to offer. Plus, we saved 1000’s by staying “off property”. We used Vacation Rental by Owner to save even more money by renting directly from the owners.
2. We made our own Autograph books (and accidentally left them at home – OOPS!).
3. We got a super deal on a rental car, by using Priceline & BetterBidding.com. Â Thanks to several of you for suggesting Better Bidding, it was a HUGE help.
4. We saved all the gift cards we earned throughout the year to offset the cost of the vacation.
5. We left one child at home. Only kidding! I just wanted to see if you were paying attention.
6. We saved money on our meals several different ways. We rented a home with a kitchen, so we could make some of our meals at home. Eating out costs a lot of money, so we were able to save a lot by making breakfast at the home most mornings. We also used several certificate from restaurant.com and actually ate at some really good restaurants.
7. We were prepared for Disney Pin Trading by buying pins to trade ahead of time. We found that we could get some great deals, by buying pins off of Ebay. To find a reputable seller, consult this thread over at the DisBoards. Â My youngest was way more into pin trading then I thought he would be, it was so much fun for him.
8. We used airline miles to pay for your airline tickets. It took years and years of saving the miles, but it really paid off.
9. We signed up for the Disney Rewards Visa. By signing up for the Visa card we were rewarded with $200 in Disney gift cards for FREE. Plus, we also were able to rack up $215 in rewards points. That is $415 in FREE money we were able to use on our vacation.
10. I used coupons!! This one shouldn’t really come as a surprise. I use coupons even when I am on vacation. I used coupons for groceries, activities, restaurants, and even for souvenirs. I used some of my points from the Tropicana Juicy Rewards program to print coupons for places in Orlando, like the Sky Venture indoor skydiving. I even bought and Enterainment book for the Orlando area (I got it for only $5)
I would love to hear any of you tips for saving money on a Disney vacation.
