If you plan ahead, then you will have time to wait on shipping, hit seasonal sales, and use coupons. There are many sites out there with “ultimate” packing lists for all age groups. Take advantage of these lists and make a shopping list as early as possible. You can also decide what you can live without, what you can buy, and what you can make (see below).

Consignment sales are full of Disney clothes for kids for a few dollars per shirt. I think the most I spent on any one article of clothing for them was $3. It really is worth the effort to get up early and dig through the piles of stuff.

If you buy any movie made by Disney on Bluray or DVD, then you can earn Disney Movie Rewards by entering codes on their website. They also occasionally release bonus points that you don't need to make a purchase to use. We had accrued quite a few points, and just for kicks I went looking to see if there was any Disney stuff that I could get for free from using my Rewards. The inventory changes constantly, but we were able to find some fun stuff for me and Lil Bit. I got a Mickey hat and some Minnie Sleeves (like leg warmers, but for arms). Lil Bit got a baseball hat. These were all super fun items that we got just because we had purchased movies (or received them as gifts) that we would have owned anyway.

If you have a craft cutting machine like a Silhouette Potrait or Cameo, then making a mickey head shape is very easy, but even if you don’t own a craft digital cutting tool, it is a simple shape that you can cut out with an xacto blade. If you cut it out of vinyl, you can apply it to various surfaces. You can also cut shapes out of contact paper (or vinyl but contact paper is cheaper) to use as a stencil to paint shirts and other items.