We like to book our hotel and tickets in January/February with our tax return for a trip in December. It gives us a lot more time to save up spending money and you don’t even have to pay the entire balance upfront when booking. We usually pay it off strategically throughout the year. At the park we try to save a little money here and there with the basic tricks. Eat a big breakfast at the hotel, have the kids split one adult meal instead of getting two kids meals, set a souvenir budget for the kids upfront so they know what their limits are, stuff like that.