**DISNEY THREAD** Share your favorite time and money-saving tips, tricks, hacks, etc here

[Anonymous]

Money Savers (for Upgrades):

- Look into renting DVC points. These will get you access to the Disney time shares so you can get "deluxe" access and 1 bedroom villas for a lot cheaper than rack rate. The cancellation policies are different, however, so there's added risk. The cheapest options for this is Saratoga Springs (which is huge so you may want to drive yourself) and Old Key West. This will get you access to Extended Evening Hours.
- Look into Swan/Dolphin which is a Marriott property, so you can get AAA rates or even use Marriott Reward points. This also gets you deluxe privileges with Extended Evening Hours.

Time Savers:
- If you're going to the park on a travel day, book Genie+ and Lightning Lanes that morning before you get on the plane for popular rides (Hollywood Studios and Magic Kingdom, specifically). Genie+ let's you accrue rides every 2 hours, so you can stack them over the course of the day. You just have to look for rides that have return times for when you'll be there. Lightning Lanes are easier, because you can pick your return time, Genie+ will only offer next available.

[Anonymous]

Oh dear, I need a 101 on lightening lanes and genie plus. Haven’t been since there were fast passes.

[Anonymous]

Watch all the YouTube videos on using Genie+ and securing virtual line passes. Ones we like are:

Tim Tracker
Paging Mr. Morrow
Theme Park Express

You can easily share many QS meals (Pecos Bill, Flame Tree are 2 of our favorites).

Get a popcorn bucket day #1 (doesn't have to be the crazy ones). Refills are very cheap!

All QS restaurants will give you free cups of ice water. If you don't like the taste of Disney water (like us) bring a Britta water bottle with water filter. We absolutely LOVE them!

If you want to stay at a deluxe resort look to rent DVC points. Theres many Facebook groups you can join to find owners renting (ask for references) or you can go through a website like Davids DVC Rentals.

Use the crowd calendars, but post Covid they're not nearly as reliable as they one were.

It might say rain/thunderstorms daily during your trip. If your trip is scheduled May - August that's just Florida. It will often have a summer rain around 2-3pm daily. It typically doesn't last long.

If you're going to a party (Halloween or Christmas) and want to watch the parade do it in Frontier land (where it starts).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Save money: Pack lunch/snacks & water. Refill water at stations.

+1
We are our breakfast and ( sometines) lunch while waiting in line for rides to boot.
I had a backpack with various non perishables. Save time and money.


Adding...buy Disney merchandise (I bought them t shirts and caps) at Kohls (or whatever) before you go. You and the kids will be decked out ready to get into the Disney spirit and you won't over-spend at the Disney souvenir stores .

Pack glow necklaces/headbands/glow glasses (or whatever) to give to your kids at dusk. They're not as glamorous as the light-up stuff Disney sells, but it's still a novelty (at least for my kids) and I could easily see them/keep an eye out on them easier when it got dark(er) .

[Anonymous]

Not time or money related, but if your kid isn’t a gamer, don’t let them pilot the Millennium Falcon on Smuggler’s Run. They’ll just ruin it for everyone if they’re crashing the entire time. Same goes for adults, actually. Let someone who plays games be the pilot.

[Anonymous]

This is for all the non-experts who don't have the energy to watch 50 You Tubes about Disney prep:

Figure out the damn ticket download stuff in advance. I thought I had it all done and then we were *those people* who held up the line.

If something goes wrong, contact Disney through the app and let them know, and they will likely do something to make up for it (like a free lightening lane). I'm not saying to make stuff up and overly complain, but if something legit goes wrong (which happened to us with my husband's ticket, not our fault, and it made us miss the window for the virtual queue at Epcot) then tell them, they will make up for it.

Remember that you have to take a tram or boat to the Magic Kingdom and factor that into your timing. I was an idiot novice and totally forgot because I hadn't been to Disney in 30 years.

Use the single rider lines, SO much faster.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Time Savers:
- If you're going to the park on a travel day, book Genie+ and Lightning Lanes that morning before you get on the plane for popular rides (Hollywood Studios and Magic Kingdom, specifically). Genie+ let's you accrue rides every 2 hours, so you can stack them over the course of the day. You just have to look for rides that have return times for when you'll be there. Lightning Lanes are easier, because you can pick your return time, Genie+ will only offer next available.

Wait, you can do that for Disneyworld? Disneyland won't let you do anything with Genie+/LL until you've checked into the park where you want to use them.

[Anonymous]

Go through a Disney specialist travel agent. They’re usually young Moms who know every inch of the park and all the details. For instance, our kids were too young to stay ip to go to the fireworks so our Disney travel agent got us a hotel room that faced the fireworks so they could see them before they went to bed.
Be sure to bring a charger. The Disney app will drain your battery.

[Anonymous]

The only hack is to buy genie plus and also pay for the individual lightning lanes as well. Each park has one ride with an individual lightening lane that is not part of genie plus and you pay separately for it. I can’t imagine standing in line for two hours for a 3 minute ride. The genie plus is totally worth the money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Save money: Pack lunch/snacks & water. Refill water at stations.

Mostly agree but I found that there were very few water stations (and I asked!) and that the water out of the fountains tasted gross.

My tip - depending on your family’s appetite, you can pre-order food at some restaurants through the Disney app and get kids meals for the adults too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Time Savers:
- If you're going to the park on a travel day, book Genie+ and Lightning Lanes that morning before you get on the plane for popular rides (Hollywood Studios and Magic Kingdom, specifically). Genie+ let's you accrue rides every 2 hours, so you can stack them over the course of the day. You just have to look for rides that have return times for when you'll be there. Lightning Lanes are easier, because you can pick your return time, Genie+ will only offer next available.

Wait, you can do that for Disneyworld? Disneyland won't let you do anything with Genie+/LL until you've checked into the park where you want to use them.

You could when we went last year. The only thing you need is a park reservation for that day, and you can start booking at 7am. The two hour accrual rule starts when the park opens.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Time savers:

*buy Genie plus every day, even when you think you could do without it. Even if you only use it for 2 rides, you could save hours. Time IS money at Disney.
*Likewise, spring for the ILL for the rides you want to ride. These rides are truly time sucks if you don't.
*reserve at least one character meal in lieu of waiting in line at the in-park meet and greets.
*stay at an onsite resort to get the 30 minutes early opening
*stay at a deluxe resort to get the extra hours at to
*stay where you can walk to at least 1 or 2 parks or take the Skyliner. Avoid the buses when you can: Beach Club, Yacht Club, Boardwalk, Contemporary, Polynesian, or Grand Floridian. PopCentury, Art of Animation, Caribbean Beach, etc.
*Stay in a
*If you plan to watch the fireworks at the Magic Kingdom: do a Fireworks Dessert Party or Fireworks Cruise
*VIP tour ($$$)

Money savings:
none of the above; stay offsite and drive in to the parks each day.

I totally agree with you on everything but what is the rest of the sentence there?? LOL

Sorry, this would have been my money saver if I hadn't zonked out: book Dolphin or Swan and use Marriott points. Not necessarily a time saver but you could get some free nights.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Save money: Pack lunch/snacks & water. Refill water at stations.

Mostly agree but I found that there were very few water stations (and I asked!) and that the water out of the fountains tasted gross.

My tip - depending on your family’s appetite, you can pre-order food at some restaurants through the Disney app and get kids meals for the adults too.

I think the water station situation is changing at Disney - there are more stations in Galaxy's Edge, for example.

And if you don't want/need sit down restaurant reservations, pre-ordering through the app is the way to go. Skip the line, show up when you're ready in your ordering window. We did this for all of our meals (my kid wasn't interested in character meals or anything that required a set time).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Save money: Pack lunch/snacks & water. Refill water at stations.

Mostly agree but I found that there were very few water stations (and I asked!) and that the water out of the fountains tasted gross.

My tip - depending on your family’s appetite, you can pre-order food at some restaurants through the Disney app and get kids meals for the adults too.

They won’t refill your water bottle, but they’ll give you cups of water for free at any drink/snack stand.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Save money: Pack lunch/snacks & water. Refill water at stations.

Mostly agree but I found that there were very few water stations (and I asked!) and that the water out of the fountains tasted gross.

My tip - depending on your family’s appetite, you can pre-order food at some restaurants through the Disney app and get kids meals for the adults too.

I’m the quoted person. I was able to get water at any quick serve restaurant. Lots of times they have cups waiting for people, so I would walk up and get a cup of water or two. I don’t mind the taste of Florida water, so that was not an issue for me.