Disney World visitors embrace sharing culture for free items

Disney World isn’t typically a place people go to save money.

Millions empty their pockets at the Florida resort every year. Once you add up admission to the theme parks, cartoon-themed hotel rooms, dinners with characters and Mickey Mouse merch, the budget can stretch from infinity to beyond.

Amid all that spending, some visitors have found a way to find unexpected troves of freebies. Hotel-specific Facebook groups are now flooded with offers to give away all kinds of things: unused rain ponchos, uneaten snacks, handheld fans, popcorn buckets with discounted refills, bottomless hotel mugs with days of free drinks left. People who prepaid for a dining plan buy chicken strips for strangers. Some stock up on Disney trinkets so they can give them away to other families.

For some visitors, it’s a way to adopt the brand’s spirit of making magic. And they’ve found that generosity is contagious.

"Things are so heavy outside of Disney,” said Kelsey Rush-Walko, 33, a food safety manager at a Pennsylvania dairy whose kids are 7 and almost 3. "It’s our escape. Making people happy and bringing joy to other families is just a really cool thing.”

On a recent trip, she hung Mickey Mouse ears, charms for Crocs and Disney themed-rubber ducks from magnetized clips on her door at the Pop Century hotel with a sign offering "pixie dust.” She handed out packets with pampering supplies and encouraging notes to fellow moms in the parks.

At the end of the weeklong trip, Rush-Walko put a bag full of things she couldn’t bring home outside her door — everything from a misting fan to bathroom spray — and posted it on Facebook. Her family bought a pizza for another family at lunch with extra meals left on the dining plan that was a free promotion with their vacation package. They paid for four meals at the hotel restaurant, posting the pickup details so someone could grab the order.

"Anytime you can help somebody save money is a vibe,” she said.

Budget buster meets Buy Nothing

The cheapest ticket to spend a day at a Disney World theme park is $119. But most people aren’t going to Animal Kingdom on a random weekday in September and calling it the trip of a lifetime. A weeklong vacation package for a family of four next summer starts at about $5,000 with some meals included — including free dining plans for kids. That doesn’t include the cost of a plane ticket, transportation to the parks, extra fees to skip long lines or souvenirs.

Disney announced new, higher prices for some tickets and passes earlier this month; the cost of admission typically increases every year while the company dangles promotions like free kids’ dining and hotel discounts.

"You’re spending a lot of money at Disney, full stop,” said Stephanie Shuster, CEO and owner of the fan publication WDW Magazine. "You’ve worked hard, you’ve made sacrifices.”

Disney said in a statement it has a range of packages that "suit a wide range of needs and budgets for all who visit.”

People outside of the Disney bubble have embraced a "gift economy” mindset for decades as a way to give and receive random, sometimes hilarious items that might otherwise be trashed. The practice has been fueled by initiatives like The Freecycle Network, founded in 2003, and the Buy Nothing Project in 2013.

The Disney version of that unfolds mainly on Facebook in groups with tens of thousands of members devoted to the property’s more than 20 hotels that range from "value” to "deluxe.” Many include "pass along items” or "leftover freebies” in their names, but also function as places for tips on logistics and room features.

Now that the giveaways have grown to include bags full of stuff, Shuster said there’s a preferred protocol: arrange a handoff, preferably in a public place, instead of leaving things in hallways or (another popular spot) laundry rooms. Official resort rules say Disney reserves the right "to deal with any unattended object, bag or luggage in such way as we consider appropriate.”

Shuster said the earliest examples she can remember are from the old FastPass system in place until about 2014, which doled out free paper tickets allowing people to skip to the front of a line. Guests whose plans changed would delight in finding someone at the end of a long line and surprising them with the pass.

The same thing happened with the advent of prepaid dining plans. Shuster remembers eating at one of the pricier hotel restaurants about eight years ago, when another couple paid for her party’s meal because they had extra credits. She did the same the next night at a different restaurant.

‘Community stroller’ available for pickup

Kirsten Andrade, director of operations at the travel agency Favorite Grampy Travels, said some online groups have kept calendars for items that are passed on from guest to guest, especially strollers or other needs for young kids.

Her company administers several theme park-centered groups on Facebook, where people offer their leftovers. The trend has grown to include Universal Orlando Resort hotels as well, she said.

"It’s kind of like a secret club that you definitely want to be a part of,” she said. "It just becomes the culture to be able to share and to pass the magic on.”

Rosie Garcia, who works for a beverage distributor, did not know about this culture when she took her two kids to Disney World for the first time this month. The 32-year-old from South Texas also did not know that she would need a stroller until her 6-year-old son hurt his ankle before the trip.

Her mom, Ana Garcia, had been all over a Facebook group for the Art of Animation hotel. She’d already collected some dish soap, water, a popcorn bucket and a resort mug at the beginning of the trip with an extended family group of 17 people.

"I’m like, ‘Mom, what?’” said Rosie Garcia, who described her mom as "very frugal” but also, lovingly, "a bit of a hoarder.” She figured she might as well look for a stroller — and behold, someone was offering one. Her mom rushed to pick it up and sent her daughter a victorious photo. The double stroller, Garcia said, went everywhere with the family.

“‘Everything happens for a reason’ is my way of living. You’re right where you’re supposed to be at all times,” she said. "This one just happened to be there for me.”

When she was leaving around 4 a.m. to catch a flight home, she left the "community stroller” and a few other items near an elevator. Then she posted the picture and location on Facebook.

That’s where Brooke Libby came in. The Indiana probation officer and mom of two was up early, excited, at the start of a long-planned trip with two other families from home and all of their kids. One of the families needed a stroller for two kids, but didn’t want to buy a double just for the trip or fly with a single that they didn’t really need.

She spotted Garcia’s post and ventured out into the early morning to get it. Her friends woke up to news of her score.

"She used it the entire time that we were there,” said Libby, 33. "It was an absolute lifesaver having that.” The stroller stayed behind, offered up again, when they left.

Allyson Crawford was part of Libby’s 13-member friend group on the trip with her 7-year-old and 4-year-old twins. She had joined the Facebook group for the hotel six months earlier and was floored to see all the giveaways.

Crawford joined the wave on their last day, lucking into free lunch for her family and giving away Mickey Mouse sneakers, popcorn buckets, hats, bubbles and an unopened store-bought cake intended to celebrate one of the group members’ birthdays.

"I was like, ‘Someone will surely enjoy a whole cake,’” she said. "Put it in the pile.”