How Do I Plan A Disney Vacation For Cheap
Hey! Welcome to the Disney Parks Price Report on how to plan a Disney Vacation for cheap. I spent some time looking into how to save money at Disney World and this is what I found. I’ve got a lot of tips on where you can cut down your trip cost. If you are planning a Walt Disney World trip in the not too distant future, I think this might be helpful for you. Disney vacations are expensive, but that shouldn’t keep you from experiencing all that the parks have to offer. Planning Disney vacations for cheap may seem impossible, especially if you don’t have a lot of money to spend. However, there are numerous ways you can have the dream vacation without breaking the bank.
It’s everyone’s dream to go and spend a few days at the Happiest Place On Earth, but it’s not as easy as you might think. Deciding to go on vacation and finally deciding where to go can be some of the hardest parts of planning a trip. There is so much that goes into a vacation and if you don’t plan properly, it could cost you an arm and a leg. Whether you are looking to have a long weekend away or going on a trip that will span one or several weeks, this article will help set your plans in motion.
How Do I Plan A Disney Vacation For Cheap
Whenever I’m asked about how to plan a family Disney vacation, my response is always the same. It’s about more than planning a trip; it’s about planning an experience. I’ve done it several times and know that it takes more than just plans and a budget to get Disney right.
Life as we know it is returning to normal! I can’t tell you how excited I am (and I know you are too). But the thing I’ve missed the most these last few years is planning our family trips to Disney. Yup—it really is a magical place.
And if you were worried about how Disney parks would fare through the pandemic, rest easy. In the first quarter of this year, they recovered their pandemic losses with profits climbing above pre-pandemic levels.1
Now, who’s ready to start planning a Disney trip? Planning a Disney trip on a budget isn’t for the faint of heart, but it can be done. In fact, it’s one of my spiritual gifts.
How to Plan a Disney Vacation
The best way to plan anything is with lots of research, right? The same is true for a Disney vacation. And thankfully, there are a million different resources out there that are focused on how to do Disney World “the right way.”
But when it comes to vacations, the only right way to do it is to make sure your finances are in order! No one wants to go into debt for vacation—not even for Disney World.
Every savings goal starts with a budget. Create yours today with EveryDollar.
So, the first thing you need to do when planning a Disney trip (or any other cheap vacation) is make a budget. EveryDollar is my favorite budgeting app. Not only is it free, but it helps take the guesswork out of creating a budget.
Your budget will help you save, learn where you need to cut spending, and actually give you the freedom to spend. And with a trip to Disney, you’re really going to want to spend.
10 Ways to Do Disney on a Budget
For a family of four, the average cost to go to Disney World is anywhere from $4,000 to $10,000 or more, which is a lot of money. But you can do it for less. There are plenty of ways to save on your Disney dream vacation—up to thousands of dollars, actually.
If you’re in a good position financially (and it’s the right time for your family to go), these 10 tips for Disney World will help you stay on budget and kick your experience up a notch (at no extra cost). Ready?
Let’s get started.
1. Spend some days at the park and some days at the pool.
You guys—this isn’t a popular opinion, but you don’t have to spend every day of your vacation in the Disney parks! Trust me, your feet will thank you for breaking up the week with one day at the park and the next hanging by the hotel pool. If you stay on property at a Disney hotel, the pools make you feel like you’re still at the park! They’re themed, they’re huge, and they’re just incredible.
There are also plenty of other places you can go on your “off-park” days and still be immersed in Disney magic. Head over to Disney Springs for shopping, restaurants and free entertainment. Go to Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort for dinner and stay to watch the Magic Kingdom fireworks on the beach—for free! (The boat dock is a magical place to catch those fireworks too.)
This one tip will save you hundreds or thousands of dollars in Disney park tickets, depending on how many people you’re going with and how many days you’re staying.
2. Skip the Park Hopper and visit one park per day.
It might seem like a good deal to buy the $174 Park Hopper ticket and get access to all four Disney World parks in one day. However, if you’re staying for multiple days, you can make your budget go even further if you forego park-hopping for a day or two and just visit one park per day. The average price for a single-park ticket per day is $109 (for ages 10 and up), saving you $65 per person, per day.* (Single-park tickets for kiddos ages 3 to 9 are about $104.)
Keep in mind though, Disney will lower the price of your daily ticket when you buy for three or more days. And always look at their calendar when you’re booking your trip—prices change depending on the day too!
When you purchase your tickets, you need to make sure to reserve your spots at the theme parks you want to visit. It’ll be a bummer to buy tickets for a park that doesn’t have any reservations left. Plus, those tickets are nonrefundable, so be sure to triple check before you press “Submit.”
It’s important to be realistic about how much you can and want to get done each day. Moving from park to park is time-consuming and can be exhausting, especially with little ones. But if you’re only going for a couple of days, maybe do the Park Hopper ticket one of your days and spend another whole day at Magic Kingdom—which, believe me, is entirely possible and amazing and worth it!
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3. Buy Disney gift cards at a discount.
Always try to buy Disney gift cards at a discount! If you’re a member of a big-box discount store like Sam’s Club, you can buy Disney gift cards at nearly 4% off! And if you use your Red Card debit card at Target, you can get 5% off! Sure, it doesn’t sound like much, but anything helps when it comes to saving money.
You can use these gift cards to pay for your park tickets, Disney hotels, food on property and more. While it’s not a ton of money, it will save you $40 to $50 for every $1,000 you spend—and that’s, like, eight Mickey Mouse ice cream bars!
4. Don’t buy the dining plan.
I love the food at Disney. Seriously—just give me all the food! But what I don’t love? The dining plan. It’s a way to prepay for your meals on Disney property, but it’s definitely not a money-saver. In fact, in order to make sure you don’t lose money, you’ll have to do some math on-site (as you wait in line for your Dole Whip). For example, if you get too many ice cream sandwiches during the day, you’ll probably have to forfeit your fries at dinner. And who wants to do that?
Here’s the solution: Just pay for your food with cash as you go. That way, you know how much you’re spending throughout the day. And if you use the Envelope System in the parks, you know exactly how much you’re starting with (and how much you have left to spend) after each purchase. Plus, you don’t have to waste time trying to figure out if you’ve met your quota for the day. That sounds exhausting! Pro tip: If you do decide to dine out, Disney gives you the ability to book your dining reservations early using the new Disney Genie service in the Disneyland app.
5. Bring your own food.
Did you know Disney allows you to bring food into the park? This is potentially huge savings in your budget! You can pack a nice picnic lunch with sandwiches, fruit, water bottles, cookies—whatever your family likes—and store it in lockers inside the park for either $10, $12, or $15 per day, depending on what size you need.2 There are no coolers allowed, so only bring things that don’t need to be kept ice-cold. Instant savings!
Another way to save on food is by making your own meals at your hotel! Making your meals is worth it even if you do it just a few times during your stay. The Garden Grocer is an Orlando-based grocery store that delivers your groceries to your resort. You can even order your groceries up to 120 days in advance! You do have to pay a delivery fee if your order is less than $250.3