It’s a well-known fact that Disney World is an expensive vacation destination. Comedian Jim Gaffigan has a bit where he explains having to choose between taking his family to Disney World or sending his kids to college. As you walk around the parks, you will probably see some shirts (usually worn by dads) bemoaning the cost of their visit. They’ll have sayings like “Most Expensive Day Ever”, “Take My Money” or “I Work to Support My Wife’s Disney Addiction”. Well, we’re not gonna lie. Disney World is not a cheap destination. But at the same time, you don’t need to take a loan out to go either. If you’re wondering about how to save money at Disney World, check out our tips below. You’ll see it doesn’t have to be as expensive as you think!
TIME OF YEAR
- Peak and Off-Peak Seasons: one of the largest factors on how expensive your Disney World trip will be is the time of year you decide to visit. Peak seasons are obviously going to be the most expensive. These include times like holidays, summers and special events like the marathon weekend. If you’re set on going for Christmas, you won’t be able to avoid high prices on hotels and park tickets. But if you have some flexibility and/or if your kids are not in school yet, target the off-peak seasons. Not only will you enjoy lower prices but also experience lower crowd levels! We love using the pricing calendars on Mousesavers.com. Here, you can see how the rates differ depending on the week of the year for each hotel. And speaking of hotels…
SAVE ON HOTELS
- Use Undercover Tourist: You may be able to find some vacation packages through the official Disney World website. However, many times, these deals require items you may not necessarily need, such as dining plans, park hopper tickets and/or a minimum night stay. While these packages may make sense for some families, you can usually save more on the total amount of your trip by using discount sites. Our favorite is UndercoverTourist.com. They are an authorized partner of Disney World and we’ve used them multiple times to save on Disney resorts. They also offer discounts for off-property hotels as well. We’ve never had issues with our Disney resort reservations made with Undercover Tourist. And for some reason if you do run into any problems, they have excellent customer service!
Click here to read our post explaining the different Disney World resort categories and how to choose one for your trip. A rule of thumb we recommend is to choose a Value resort if you are going to be spending a lot of days in the park. Why pay for a more expensive hotel if you won’t be spending much time there? On the other hand, if you will be going on a more resort-focused trip, then it may be worth it to spend more on a hotel since you’re not buying as many park tickets. Vacation planning is all about balancing what’s more valuable to you and your family!
- Rent DVC Points: Another way to save money on your lodging is to rent Disney Vacation Club (DVC) points. DVC is Disney’s vacation timeshare program, but you don’t have to be a member to enjoy a DVC stay! Reservations are made using “points” that each member has. But a member can also rent their points if they are unable to use them all. If you have your sights set on a Moderate or Deluxe resort, you can spend significantly less by renting DVC points for a Deluxe villa than if you book directly. You could get up to a 65% discount! We’ve used David’s Vacation Club Rentals several times and always had a great experience. They have amazing customer service whose representatives are quick to respond. Their website also has a cost calculator to help you figure out how much it would cost to rent a certain type of room at each resort to aid you in your planning.
While you can save a lot renting points, there are a few things to note. Depending on the service, a refundable deposit may be required while they match you up with a DVC owner. Once the reservation is confirmed, you need to pay the remainder of reservation which is nonrefundable due to the nature of DVC booking. Also, with DVC stays, you will not have daily housekeeping (or “Mousekeeping”). But DVC rooms and villas offer amenities like kitchenettes and the larger options can be a great choice for big families or groups. You will also still get benefits like the Magical Express.
SAVE ON PARK TICKETS
- Use Undercover Tourist (again!): The previously mentioned Undercover Tourist website is not only good for getting lower hotel rates. You can also score discounted park tickets! They offer a variety of ticket options at below the gate prices. And just like the resort bookings, park tickets purchased through Undercover Tourist can be seamlessly linked to your Disney World reservation and mobile app.
- Skip the Park Hoppers: On the surface, park hopper tickets seem like a great deal. Instead of being stuck at just one park with each admission, it sounds great to be able to move between parks on a given day. After all, a particular park may not offer enough attractions to interest you for a full day. However, you could end up spending a lot of time in between parks, as not all of them are close together. So not only will you be shelling out more money on a park hopper vs. a regular one-park-a-day ticket. But you also will be wasting time waiting for and taking transportation in between the parks. Park admission is not cheap, so aim to maximize your time inside them. The only park we’ve had trouble spending the whole day at was Hollywood Studios. But that’s no longer the case with the addition of Toy Story Land and Galaxy’s Edge.
SAVE ON FOOD & SOUVENIRS
- Buy discounted gift cards: One of the ways we save a little extra money is buying discounted gift cards to spend while on our Disney trips. Some warehouse clubs like Costco may offer Disney gift cards at a discounted rate from time to time. But we generally buy gift cards from Target using the 5% Red Card discount. Prior to our trip, we will check out a couple restaurant menus to get a rough idea of how much we’ll spend on food, plus a little extra for spontaneous desserts or souvenirs. 5% may not sound like much. But if you buy $400 worth of gift cards, it’s $20 worth of “free” food or other Disney-related expense. Just don’t forget your gift cards at home!
- Pass on the Dining Plan: Speaking of food, we generally recommend skipping the Disney Dining Plan. For many families, this option ends up being a more expensive option. It also may make you pay for more food than you actually want or need. We dive more into this topic in our post “Is the Disney Dining Plan Worth It?” If the whole idea of pre-paying makes vacations more comfortable for you, we suggest the gift card method above.
- Bring your own snacks and groceries: One way you can save money on food while at Disney World is to bring your own snacks into the parks. Sure, go ahead and splurge on some Dole Whip, a Mickey pretzel or any other treats you love. But if you bring some snacks, then you have some other options besides overpriced theme park food when you get hungry. And don’t forget there’s free water at quick service restaurants throughout the parks! Also, we save money by bringing our own breakfasts from home. Foods such as cereal, granola bars and oatmeal are great budget-friendly breakfast options. If you are staying in a room or villa with a kitchen, consider picking up groceries or getting some delivered for other meals.
- Avoid the souvenir trap: Disney has souvenirs everywhere. And if you’re not careful, it’s very easy to be tempted by all the Minnie ears, t-shirts and anything else you can imagine. We don’t think there’s anything wrong with picking up a few souvenirs. But if you know you want to participate in a pricey activity like building your own droid or lightsaber, just remember to build it into your budget and cut costs somewhere else if needed.
The massive World of Disney in Disney Springs is one of our favorite stores to browse, but it is easy to get overwhelmed in there. If you’re looking for a big selection of Disney-related apparel or items at reduced prices, you may want to check out Disney’s Character Warehouse at the Orlando Premium Outlets.
FREE TRANSPORTATION & THINGS TO DO
- Take free resort transportation: While staying at an off-property hotel is touted as a cheaper alternative to Disney resorts (and they can be), staying in a Disney hotel comes with several perks. One is that there is also a whole host of free resort transportation available, including the monorail, boats and the Skyliner. Check out our “Guide to Free Disney World Transportation” for more information.
- Plan a day off from the parks: Lastly, don’t feel like you have to spend every day at a park. We know theme park admission is pricey. Luckily, there’s plenty of cheap or even FREE things to do at Disney World outside of the parks. Spend a day resort-hopping and check out all the other amazing Disney hotels. Hang out at the pool or participate in your resort’s activities. Go for a bike ride or take a boat out on the lake. For additional ideas, check out our post “15 Cheap or Free Things to Do at Disney World“.
SO WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?
As you can see, there are multiple ways to make your Disney trip more affordable and fit your budget. We’ve used all of these methods at some point to make multiple Disney trips a reality for our family. We love helping others plan vacations at the most magical place on Earth. So if you have any questions, please leave them in the comments below and we’ll be happy to answer them. If you’re looking for more mouse-related content, check out our other posts on Disney World. Thanks for reading!