Doing Orlando on a Dime
We took our girls to Orlando last weekend and had three jam-packed days full of fun. But the best part about the weekend, aside from the constant smiles across both of my girls’ faces, was the cost. My husband and I have been taking Aubrey for weekend getaways to Orlando since she was barely old enough to walk. And we have learned that a trip to the biggest tourist city in Florida doesn’t have to break the bank account.
Hotel: My husband and I both hate to waste money on an expensive hotel that we never end up spending much time in. We usually spend no more than $40 a night tops on a reputable, clean hotel by taking advantage of online discount sites. This past weekend, however, we “splurged” and stayed at Disney’s All-Star Movie Resort. For about $70 a night (prices vary depending on dates), we were able to enjoy the amazing amenities at the hotel: two beautiful pools, huge statues of famous Disney characters like Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story and Pongo from 101 Dalmations, a poolside movie under the stars and ongoing children’s activities like a scavenger hunt.
Food: We always make sure to bring a cooler and pack enough food for breakfast and lunch. The girls loved eating donuts down by the pool, and we didn’t have to waste money eating a $5 hot dog in a theme park. By packing food and snacks, we were able to splurge on one dinner at the T-Rex Café at Downtown Disney. And because the servings were actually pretty big, splitting a meal was definitely an option.
Theme Parks: Right now there are a ton of great deals being offered on tickets for the Orlando Theme Parks. Children 5 and under can visit Sea World (and Busch Gardens) for free all year with a PreSchool Pass. Teachers can also get a free pass into Sea World for the year! That left us just having to buy a ticket for me, for which there were two options. An adult Fun Pass, good until the end of the year, costs $81.99. Instead, we purchased the annual pass for $119.99, which includes parking. (The cost to park is $14 per car per day!) Monthly payment options are available, too!
Disney is also offering a great deal on tickets! Florida residents can enjoy three days at the Disney parks for only $99. A fourth day can be added for $30 more.
Goodies: It’s almost impossible to take kids to Orlando without buying a few goodies here and there. Luckily, we didn’t have to spend any cash on ice cream treats and souvenirs. Instead, we used Disney reward dollars that we earned from our Disney credit card. We use the card pretty frequently, pay off the balance right away, and earn 1 percent back in rewards to spend at any Disney location, restaurant or store.
Do you have any tips for enjoying Orlando on a dime? How do you save money?
Tags All-Star Movie Resort, deals, Disney, Sea World, T-Rex Cafe | Category Uncategorized
Great advice! We are doing Orlando in a couple weeks, so I love all of the money-saving tips.
by Mindy
We save money on Souvenirs as well… we hit up walmart, target, and the dollar stores and score on shirts for $10 instead of $25-30, autograph books for $3.00 instead of $12.95, toys $5.00 instead of (i dont even know what those cost in the parks). When we frequent the parks we bring in empty neck hanging water bottle (like the souvenir ones we picked up somewhere) and fill them with water in the park and bring the crystal light, Mio, koolaid shake in packs for normal water bottles just double or tripple them up depending on the taste. That way the kids think they are getting the good stuff but you know they are getting a lot of water with a little flavor
We also save on hotels because we purchased a steal time share at a resort in Kissimmee called Orange Lake its will cost us our payments for 5 years but our payment are really low because we haggled them down… my family has been going to that resort for 25 years (owners) and it is soooo nice there and it ends up saving us tons in the end. Also instead of lugging your big strollers or renting ones at the park there are much cheaper rental companies outside the parks (check into them before your trips) they will even deliver the strollers to the place your staying and pick them up on the date you request… they provide the nice nice strollers not like those things at the parks that are hot hard plastic. I know i have many more but I will post them when i think of them… we have been life time orlando park family so we have figured ways to cut corners big time to make it stretch with a family of 5 
by Danielle Coleman
We love reading you blog posts regarding all the fun things to do in Gainesville. We really love this town. Here at Parisleaf we’re an environmentally friendly web and print company. For every order we receive we plant 10 trees to offset the environmental impact of the job. Head on over to http://www.parisleaf.com/ to see what we’re all about. We’ll keep checking back for updates! Keep up the great work on the blog!
by Thomas P
Those are great tips Danielle! We are always looking for news ways to save money during our trips.
by Stacy Fournier