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I have shared several things you can do to save money on a Disney vacation, and today I am going to share some fun things you can do BEFORE you leave on your trip.
Make a Disney Countdown – Part of the fun of the Disney trip is the anticipation, making a countdown is a fun way to countdown the days until you leave. One of my boys made this countdown out of Lego’s, and I think it turned out great!
Have your Kids Earn Disney Dollars – We have our kids do some extra chores around the house, so they could earn “Disney Dollars”. We printed off some fake cash that we called “Disney Dollars”, these “Disney Dollars” could be turned in for real cash before we left. This gave our kids some of their own spending money for souvenirs. Having their own spending money worked out well, because the kids really thought through their purchases, and they knew that once their money was gone – it was gone!
Order a FREE Disney DVD – You can order a FREE Disney Vacation Planning DVD. This DVD gives you a complete tour of the 4 Theme Parks, 2 Water Parks and over 20 Resort hotels at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. It also includes a tour of the Disneyland Resort in California, including 2 enchanting Theme Parks and 3 Resort hotels.
It is fun to watch the DVD as a family, to help you really get excited about your upcoming trip.
Make your own Autograph Books – Getting autographs from the characters is one of the things that my kids really enjoy. Making your own autograph books can save you some money, especially if you have more than one child.
What are some fun things your family does to prepare for a Disney trip?
We just got back from Disneyland and one of the things I did before we went was to buy a couple gift certificates from Restaurant.com. Got one to The House of Blues (which is in Downtown Disney) it was fabulous. The Fire & Ice Grill in the Gardenwalk area looked great too, though we didn’t have enough time to try it. The website is having a sale this weekend, 80% if you enter the code FLAG. You can get a $50 GC for $4!! Anaheim’s zipcode is 92802. I highly recomend it. Also got one to the Katella Cafe (bust) wasn’t very good, it’s like Denny’s style restaurant. Another thing we did before our trip was we had a garage sale to earn Disney bucks, it worked great. just my 2 cents~!
@Olivia I love the idea of having a garage sale to earn some extra money for the trip. I totally agree with your choice of restaurants. We have done the House of Blues and Fire and Ice too.
https://www.thriftyandthriving.com/2011/03/disney-on-a-budget-great-restaurant-com-choices-in-and-around-the-disney-theme-parks/
@Christy, Thanks… great minds think alike! lol..
Thanks for the rest idea! I had a gift card in there waiting for me to use that I had totally forgotten about! House of Blues here we come!
We made a Disney countdown calendar from a large piece of poster board and Mickey Mouse head paint chip colors that we got at our local Home Depot. Each night for a month before we left, the girls took turns adding one to the calendar. They love it so much it is still in their room!
@Susan – That is one of the cutest ideas ever!! Thanks for sharing.
We have visited Disneyland quite a few times with our children. One of the funnest things we did was make t-shirts or sweatshirts with matching logos that we made up with characters on it. Then we took sharpies and had the characters sign our shirts. My kids, including boys, loved them and wore them for years. It was funny to see the boys try to get all the princess autographs! It was also nice to have somewhat matching shirts (colors, types whatever) while at the park, made it easier to find my kids! Have a great time….happiest place ever!
ps much cheaper than buying Disney shirts there!
https://t.me/s/be_1win/579