I am shocked that it is now just 13 days until Disney! I am still trying to not think about it or I will get so excited that I can’t sleep.
We spent the morning at the zoo “training for Disney”. It was a lot of fun and the kids had a blast playing in their pop jet fountains. While I was at the zoo, I was thinking about how they nickel and dime you, but Disney doesn’t. You pay admission to Disney and almost every single extra in the parks is free. There are a few things that cost money, but you don’t see them! (I’m not talking about the vendors.) You can spend an extra $20 in the zoo letting the kids do the things they see. The Train is $10 for the 4 of us, the Carousel is $5 for the 2 kids, the bubbles are $5 for 2 kids, feeding the Giraffes are $1 each, riding the camel is $5 a kid, mining for gold is $3 a kid, feeding the fish is 25c per handful… It’s crazy! (yes we have a membership.)
I also worked a little more on our Disney plans today. I’m almost finished!
beth says
Are you going to be posting your Disney plans?
Thanks
Ellen says
I completely agree…Disney is a class act in this regard (and many, many others). As a parent, I think it’s harder to relax and have a good time yourself if you’re constantly having to pull cash out of your wallet. It’s nice to be able to just pay once and then focus on your family.
JoAnna says
Make sure you give your self plenty of time at Epcot.. my son LOVED doing the kim possible search games at EACH contry.. we ended up doing epcot for 2 days… when we normally would spend 1/2 of 1 day there… He loved being in control of the park with at kim phone.
Also, make sure you plan some “ahhh” moments where you can unplug from us – and enjoy all of your hard work.. We will be ok if you go off line for a day or 2…. ENJOY for family time!!
Laura says
Please include meeting your FANS while you are visiting the MOUSE……..Would LOVE to meet you & get some inside tips!!!
Thanxs.
Clare C. says
I can usually find great Disney deals for almost everything (tickets, hotels, etc.) but I really think the most expensive part of Disney is the food and drinks. We bring our own water bottles and snacks into the parks but we like to get there early and stay late so we’re usually stuck paying for 2 (overpriced) meals each day for our family of 6. I guess it is nice though the all of the attractions and shows in the parks can be enjoyed for 1 price.
PixieVacations.com says
Have a great time. You will love the Beach Club Villas. That is our favorite place to stay.
Tricia says
Hope you have a great time
Tosh says
I agree! I hate how they nickel and dime you. It’s so silly to have to pay to feed the giraffes leaves! (at Jacksonville zoo). At Tampa zoo, they have you pay $2 to feed giraffes 1 cracker. We split it b/t the 2 kids but my son (18 months at time) didn’t want to give it to the giraffe he wanted to eat it ~lol! He finally gave in and gave it to him.
Kelly says
I can’t think of anything off of the top of my head that costs extra @ WDW. What are some of the things that costs extra other than merchants (food, souvenirs, etc)?
Colleen says
I can’t think of anything extra at Disney! Even at Animal Kingdom you can get into the petting zoo part for free! Other than the “underground tour” or whatever, it’s all included!
Kelly says
Ah ha! The tours, and things like diving with the dolphins and the sort. That’s to be expected though.
Sara says
Seriously! I thought the EXACT same thing last time we went to the zoo a few weeks ago. It is crazy!
Haidy says
Oh my, that is very costly but it is how it usually works.
We went to a Greek festival today, we had loads of fun. We learned some dancing steps on Greek music, enjoyed some Greek foods and special drinks but I thought it was really costly,entrance fee for $3 each, Ice slush for $4 each, jumping stuff for $1 each and foods and drinks are double the prices….It really hurted when I had to pay $3 fee at the ATM to get some cash…. We enjoyed it though
Jenny says
I just started following you via FB and your blog a few days ago, but today it just clicked that we’re going to Disney at the same time! My sons pointed it out to me that we leave in 12 days.
Yeah, it’s amazing how much quicker a local zoo can zap cash from your wallet… once your in Disney, you don’t have to worry so much about such “extra” little expenses creeping up.
We’re staying very inexpensively offsite at first and because we’re saving some money there, we got to treat ourselves a great deal to rent a studio at Beach Club Villas for $120 per night for three nights! We’re so excited – never thought we’d be in a place like that which would typically cost in the upper $300’s for a single night! We really lucked out!
And your blog is making me even more excited! Like you, we’re trying to get those last few dollars for our vacation now. We just got a gift certificate in the mail (Discovercard perk) that is helping to pay for our Mother’s Day dinner for the whole family (my mom/hubby’s mom included), so now that we’re not paying OOP for that, we’ve gotten that much closer to our completed Disney fund… 12 days…
We’re in the home-stretch! (That “we” includes you too!)
Thank you so much for all your tips that you’ve been posting… I’m learning a lot already!
Tarin says
Yep I’m leaving in 11 days. Can’t wait. My 5 year old daughter is super excited. We were lucky to get free rooms at saratoga springs. I just hope the weather lays off a bit, it’s been scorching already!
Denise says
Jenny – how are you able to rent Beach club villas for such an inexpensive price?? please share your secret!
erika says
so what are all these spredsheets everyone is talking about for disney trips.. i have a book with a bunch of post its in there… no spredsheets yet tho