Budget Friendly tips:

• Do not ever buy bottled water at Disney, you can bring your own water bottle and fill it up. Or, better yet, at all of the quick dining locations you can ask for a free cup of water. Our family stopped at every quick dining restaurant and got a drink of water to cool us down from the Florida heat. This is the best way to hydrate without lugging around water or paying $3.50 for a single water bottle.
• If your family has avid pin collectors, then that spending can add up very quickly. Rather go to Ebay and do a quick search for “Disney trading pins”. They sell them in bulk for a reasonable price! We purchased 30 pins and we traded them at Disney. A lot of the shops have a board for pin trading in the park. Without spending money you and your family will get the satisfaction of getting something at the Disney stores when they trade pins.
• Bring your own food! Disney parks allow you to bring in your own food or drink (no glass or hard-side coolers), this could account to major savings as even the budget-friendly quick service meals will run you $10-20 per person. 
• If you want to come home with Disney Souvenirs there is an excellent budget-friendly way to do that: the Disney shop at the outlet mall! Kate got a Disney Loungefly backpack and Julia got some limited edition Disney pins there for a very reasonable price!
• Visit Disney Springs! When we arrived in Orlando, we were certainly too tired to walk all day at one of the parks, but we still wanted to do something Disney related, so we stumbled upon Disney Springs. You can visit this outdoor mall without spending any money, because parking is free. But…we do strongly recommend you visit Erin Mckenna bakery. This bakery is entirely gluten-free and vegan, it’s a paradise on earth! We loved the eclairs and cupcakes at this shop! It is the best stop. Also, you should be on the lookout for scavenger hunts in Disney Springs. During Christmas time they have a Christmas tree scavenger hunt.
• Unless a Disney hotel will make or break your experience, consider staying off-site. We stayed at the Holiday Inn Resort in Lake Buena Vista both times we went to Disney. Breakfast is included there, so you can enjoy some oatmeal, coffee, and juice before heading to the park. However, if you really want to stay on-site, we recommend camping! Although we haven’t camped at Disney yet, it is on our bucket list. Staying on-site at Disney does have its privileges, like kids activities and direct access to the park, without having to pay for parking.
• There is no-need to splurge on parking either. Across all the parks the standard parking fee is $25 per day (there are special rates for guests staying at a Disney property). Disney also offers preferred parking for $50 a day, which means you will park a little closer to the entrance. If you come early in the morning, you will be close to the entrance, so the preferred parking fee is unnecessary.