We just got back from Disney World 3 weeks ago and it was FABULOUS!! Here's a couple of tips we used to save money:
1.
MouseSavers.com - Disney Discount Source - Disney World Discounts, Disneyland Discounts, Disney Cruise Discounts This website has the absolute best tips out there. If you sign up for the newsletter you get discounted tickets. I bought a 4 day park hopper and got 2 extra days for free. It was a deal!
2. Parking at all of the Disney parks is $11.00 per day. One way around this is to either stay on Disney property or park at Downtown Disney and take the shuttles over to the parks.
3. Take in your own snacks and drinks. We took bottles of water and the Koolaid singles. It was so much cheaper than buying food at Disney.
4. Get one meal and split it with your daughter. Just pick something that you'll both like. The portions at Disney are insane and it only took me ordering 2 kids meals at one meal to decide that my children could split just one.
5. There's an outlet in Orlando called International Outlets by Prime Outlets. They have a Disney Warehouse store and we got the best deals here. They had shirts for $5, Disney World coloring books for $1.99, and the deals went on and on.
6. I got the book "Birnbaums Guide to Disney" for my birthday and it was sooooooooo helpful! I highly recommend it and you can purchase it on Ebay or all of the book stores. I carried it with me at Disney and it was really helpful!
7. Go to
Walt Disney World Resort - Detecting Browser Properties . . . and make a customized park map. I did this ahead of time and it took about 2-3 to get it. I checked out all the rides and added the ones that I knew the kids would like and were tall enough to ride. You can pick only the rides and attractions you want to do for each park and they'll make you up a custom map and send it to you for free. It makes a really nice keepsake as well.
8. You can order the kids meals without the souvenier box and save $1.50 per meal. Or you can order a double cheeseburger with an extra bun for 80 cents and make two hamburger out of it. The little things like that will add up over a week long stay.
9. You absolutely MUST go to the Main Street Bakery in Magic Kingdom and get one of their cinnamon rolls! They are HUGE and I would make the 14 hour drive back to Disney World just for one of these!
Have a wonderful time! My kids had an absolute ball and we can't wait to go back!