Frugal Friday - Road Trip!

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As we were making our plans to visit the most Magical Place on Earth (Disney), it was easy to see how fast things could ad up! Hotel, meals, transportation, souvenirs and more could break the bank if we weren't careful. Just because we have money, doesn't mean we need to spend it all, especially on a vacation.
=)

So, what to do to save money on our trip?

First of all, thanks to the Tupperware Convention, we saved almost 75% off our room at the Disney Resort. Seriously, we are getting 6 days for just under $600, and add $100 more for the 2 nights on the road (there and back). The posted room rate on their website is $425 for our room, before taxes. Awesome.

We knew that going into this trip and then, got Miss Sarah on board with saving for Disney with her "Bank"  - she diligently saved coins for seven months and FILLED the milk jug! That money was turned into Disney Gift Cards (bought at Walgreen's) so we would carry less cash with us and not use the credit card! (Just an FYI, her coin total was $379.89)!!

Meals.
WOW - just reading through that it can cost a family of three over $100 for a character breakfast cracked me up. SOOOOOOO not going to happen!
We will have a few meals out but are taking stockpile food with us, as well as a cooler full of food for the drive so we can avoid fast food stops. What are we taking?
  • Boxes of cereal
  • Capri Sun (a rare treat for Miss Sarah)
  • Crystal Light (different flavors) and our water bottles
  • Granola Bars
  • Multigrain Chips
  • Cocoa
  • Emerald Breakfast To Go Nut packs
  • Goldfish Crackers
  • Gatorade
  • A Case of bottled water
  • Peanut Butter & Jelly for sandwiches
We will hit a store and get milk, bread, etc as we have a fridge in our room. This should cover breakfast and lunch every day. A few dinners are covered by the convention, we have a few gift cards and will leave the Disney property for dinner. Yes, I LOVE having a stockpile, LOL!

Transportation.
It would have cost us over $800 for airfare, and more to rent a car so we choose to drive. Gas is under $4 a gallon and, using this site, we can figure out roughly what gas would cost us. $300 is a lot cheaper than $800+ car rental. Seriously, enter the make and model of your car, your start and ending points, then you can see what you need to budget.
Souvenirs. (sigh)
Who can have a Disney trip and not get fun stuff?
Miss Sarah will get a gift of the day, every day on our trip. I pre-bought them all and have them gift wrapped!
  • Open Season DVD (Black Friday 2010 $2) - to watch on day one in the car
  • Open Season 2 DVD  (Black Friday 2010 $2) - to watch on day two in the car
  • Disney Cinderella Picture/story Book (garage sale $.50)
  • Disney Character Magic Towel (Ariel) (Dollar Tree $1)
  • Disney Character Magic Towel (Cinderella) (Dollar Tree $1)
  • Word Search Puzzle Book with Ariel Pop Up Pencil Set ($.50 each Target $1 bin clearance)
  • Tinkerbell Costume (Garage Sale $1) - to wear at Magic Kingdom
  • Dinosaur Egg (from a friend, FREE)
  • Dinosaur Egg (from a Friend FREE)
  • Dazzling Jewels Princess Magnetic Play Set (garage sale $.50) -  for car ride home
  • Disney Princess Card Game Tin Set $1 (Easter Clearance fro Target - has 2 games)
Grand total for all the "souvenirs"? 
$10. 
I AM going to buy a set of Mickey Ears for one of the days  -- we have no Disney store in Madison anymore and I forgot to order it online and we MIGHT get one of the character cups that they refill for free at all the resorts during your visit.

Remember those Disney Gift Cards?
Besides visiting 2 different parks (Animal Kingdom one day and Magic Kingdom one day), Miss Sarah will visit the Bippidy Boppidy Boutique and get to be in the Mousekateer Club one night, when we have our Award dinner. If there is anything left, we will apply it to the hotel balance.

I do know that Miss Sarah will get two buttons to wear at Disney - one for 1st Time and one for Birthday. Wearing these around will get her a little extra attention from the staff and characters. This is good as we have a white notebook for character autographs and will make a little scrapbook with those one one page and her picture with that character on the other. I think that scrapbook will be a fun fall project for us to do.
=)

Let's not forget the house sitter/cat watcher!
Not only do we have the comfort of knowing our house isn't empty but our kitty isn't sitting in a 3x3x3 foot square cage for 10 days at eh vet. She has full range of her home and someone to lay with her.
=)
We stock the fridge with yummy food, bring back a giftie AND pay the person. (figured into our budget).

That, is how the three of us are taking a 10 day Disney Vacation for under $1,500.

Have you ever taken a kiddo to Disney?
Any thing that I missed?
Please share!

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