5. Splurge: Purchasing a Pandora charm

Save: Create a floating charm

Pandora charms —those rounded, bead-like bits of silver, jewels and enamel that adorn bracelets —can cost $40 to $100 each! Disney offers its own version of cute charms that cost less than $10 each, but you can make your own charms out of an unexpected material —Shrinky Dinks Shrinkable Plastic. Find your favorite Disney clipart (maybe a picture of CInderella Castle, Minnie's face or the house with balloons from "Up"), change the photos' opacity to about 50 percent so the images will show up (and flip the images if they have words) print the images on the rough side of the Shrinky Dink plastic, cut out your images close to their edges, bake them in the oven according to the Shrinky Dink package instructions and once they're cool you can add your charms to a clear glass locket.

6. Splurge: Grabbing a T-shirt at the parks

Save: Make your own fashion statement

Plenty of park-goers return from their vacations with new T-shirts in their suitcases, but you can resist the urge to buy one by creating your own before you hit the resort. And if you're more clever than you are crafty, that's perfectly fine. There are tons of stores online (like Zazzle, CafePress and Vistaprint) that will allow you to put in your own design and they'll send you a printed shirt for prices that are much lower than Disney's. The possibilities are nearly endless (you can have shirts printed that read "I'm so Frozen. You already snow," "My Disney princess name is Taco Belle" or just a line from your favorite ride like "Dead men tell no tales"), but just be sure that your design doesn't contain anything objectionable or you may not be able to wear your creation into the parks. 

7. Splurge: Taking a huge plush character home

Save: Choose a few Tsum Tsums

Plush characters are a huge draw at Disney's souvenir shops. There are lots of different styles, such as plush "baby" Mickeys and Minnies that come with their own blankets for $24.99 to massive Stitches that cost about $100. Most plush animals are around $35 each, but you can get a bunch of different characters for a much better price by looking in the stores' Tsum Tsum sections! The smallest Tsum Tsums (shown above) cost just $5.95 each, making them one of the least expensive souvenirs in the parks, period. And their soft bellies even double as screen cleaners for your phone and other mobile devices. Disney is also coming out with new Tsums all the time (a "Jungle Book" line was just released, and there's also a line based on "The Haunted Mansion" characters), and the 3.5-inch plushes are much easier to place in a suitcase than a 28-inch stuffed Pluto!

8. Splurge: Hitting up Disney's Christmas shops for an ornament

Save: Create your own using a free item from the parks

Disney's shops that celebrate the holidays year-round can be hard to resist. Even in the heat of summer, there's something about walking through those doors and hearing cheery Christmas music that instantly makes you feel a lot cooler. You might be tempted by the huge array of ornaments that surround you to choose one (or five) for your tree at home, but at $20 (or more) a pop, that can end up being a big expense. You can still commemorate your trip by grabbing a park map. When you get home from your vacation, take some clear plastic or glass fillable ornaments, cut the map into long, thin strips, wrap each strip around a pen to curl it and place the curls in your ornament. You can also personalize the ornament even more by painting the year of your trip on the outside. 

Do you ever use other ways to save on Disney souvenirs? Let us know in the comments below!