Look, I get it. Walt Disney World is not for everyone. It is crowded, expensive and hot. All that said, there is definitely something magical about the “Happiest Place on Earth”. This is what makes it one of the top destinations in the world for families, large and small. If you have never been, especially if you have children in your family, the experience is entirely one-of-a-kind. It is often deemed well worth the potential hassles, particularly if you mitigate them. And probably the biggest of those hassles? The sheer costs of getting to, and being at, Walt Disney World in Orlando Florida. Which begs the question: Does “Disney World on a Budget” even exist? Let’s discuss some of the ways to manage a Disney budget during the planning and booking phases. You can read about managing budget while at the parks in my follow-up, coming soon.
A Bit About Disney World
At time of writing, Walt Disney World is 50+ years old. First opening its gates in October of 1971, WDW boasts over 27,000 acres. It provides coverage for four main parks, two water parks, countless resorts and other areas. It is also officially the largest theme park in the world. Comparatively, Disneyland Resort in California, which opened in 1955, is about 500 acres, all in. The parks in California park for just about 100 acres. Disneyland parks could fit in the parking lot of the Magic Kingdom alone, with room to spare.
As noted above, Walt Disney World consists of four main theme parks. They are Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Disney’s Animal Kingdom and Disney’s Hollywood Studios (formerly MGM Studios). In most cases, each requires its own admission, anywhere from $60-150 per person, per day. Additionally, each park can fill an entire day (or more if not planned accordingly). All these things considered, “Disney World on a Budget” is a bit of a unicorn…but it can be done.
CONTENTS
1. Understanding a Disney World Budget
2. Resources For Planning Disney World On A Budget
3. Trip Considerations
4. Planning Your Trip
5. Final Thoughts
Understanding A Disney World Budget
First things first – this trip is not cheap. You will need to get right with that before even starting this adventure. When considering a family of four, 3-day park tickets alone will cost you roughly $1200, on the low end. There are a few tricks to bring those costs down, but not many and not by much. A better method of budgeting for Disney World is to consider your annual vacation budget and work from there. Additionally, put more weight into “cost effectiveness” instead of just “cost”. Certainly, the idea of a $3,000-5,000 vacation can prompt some serious sticker shock. The move is trying to get the most value out of that same amount of money.
Key Considerations
When budgeting for Disney World there are a few key things to consider:
- Flights – There are good times to fly and less good times to fly. Additionally – you may not even need to fly at all!
- Accommodations – Airbnb? Hotel? Disney Resort? Which is the most cost effective and suits your needs?
- Park Passes -Necessary to visiting Disney World is getting into Disney World. And necessary to that is buying admission tickets. But which parks? what kind of ticket and how many days?
- Food – There is plenty of overpriced foods at Disney World. Some are worth a try and some are definitely ok to skip.
- Transportation – Renting a car? Relying on shuttle? what is the best way to get to and from the parks? It kinda depends on where you are staying and some other key factors.
Resources for planning Disney World On A Budget
The good news is, you are not left to fend for yourself. There are countless resources at your fingertips, for planning a trip to Walt Disney World. From blogs to apps to YouTube channels all dedicated to the Walt Disney World Resort and its parks, it becomes much less a matter of if and more a matter of which to leverage. Here are the essentials that I reach for every time I am thinking about making this trip happen.
Would Be Wanderer Facebook Group or Community Forum
Both great places to talk with folks in real time about Disney World best practices and tips.
Undercover Tourist
This is a great site to find (sometimes) discounted tickets. More importantly, Undercover Tourist provides tips and best practices for saving time and energy during your visit (and at Disney World time = money). Tools available are a crowd calendar, park maps, etc
Google Flights
Hands down the best way to find the best available and most cost friendly flights in and out of Orlando. Be sure to read our how-to guide on properly Using Google Flights To Find The Cheapest Flights.
MyDisneyExperience Website and app
It is not often that a company branded app makes the list of necessary tools for planning. That being said, it is clear that Disney Co is very aware of bottlenecks and visitor frustrations and, while cost reductions seem off the table, do their best to mitigate some of those frustrations. The app is sort of a one-stop shop for your specific visit, seamlessly linking all of your party, your park tickets and just about any other resort branded reservations you may have. It acts as a virtual queue for some attractions and a virtual check in if you are staying at the resort. It also contains all sorts of useful information like current queue times, queue time trends, park maps, etc. If you are a visitor taking advantage of Disney’s Disability Access Services (DAS), that information will be stored there as well.
The Disney Food Blog (DFB)
Dedicated to finding the best food options at Disney World (and, more importantly, calling out the ones that you can skip) DFB is a great resource for cutting costs at the parks. Next to park tickets, food can *quickly* become one of the most costly parts of your visit. As noted above, there are certainly things that are worth a try (looking at you Dole Whip)…but there are far more spend traps, that more likely deserve to be skipped. In addition to the blog, DFB has a really fantastic YouTube channel where they provide (a LOT of) information on getting the most out of your trip (food and otherwise).
Trip Considerations
When To Travel
In most cases, I would typically suggest booking flights when solid deals come around, and building a trip from there. When it comes to Disney World, I still suggest booking flights when their cheap, but you should also be aware of the cheapest times for park tickets. Disney World ticket prices trend low at two pretty specific times. The good thing, is that the tickets trend low at these times, because park attendance is typically low(er) on them. Essentially, that means that if you book on these cheaper dates, you will also likely see (slightly) smaller crowds. NOTE: Take that with a grain of salt as “(slightly) smaller crowds”‘ are still pretty large crowds.
Early January
The first time tickets dip pretty severely is in the first week of January. The Disney Holiday Festivities are over (mostly), everyone is getting back to their lives after a (likely) stressful holiday season, and kids are just getting back into school after a sizable break. All of these factors create one of the best times to visit the parks. The prices drop about 30% from the previous month, the weather is great and the crowds are thin.
Late Summer
The second time tickets drop, and this time the drop is almost 40% below average prices, is late August/early September. This is another case in which summer break just ended and kids are just getting back to school. The other factor here, is that this is right in the middle of hurricane season in Orlando – you do run the risk of inclement weather and possible cancellations.
A one week difference in either direction may mean the difference between $109 tickets or $140 tickets. For a family of four, and a three day trip – that amounts to a savings of $372. I would still suggest prioritizing flights, as hunting flight deals properly could easily save you more than that, but if you can get cheap flights for one of those weeks, you may be saving yourself $1000 just based on dates.
Where To Stay
Hotels/Airbnb
Where you stay is going to be one of the biggest decisions you make on your trip. When traveling, I typically seek out hostels (with breakfast included), inexpensive hotels (with breakfast included) or inexpensive Airbnb (with kitchen). The common denominator here is food. Food is the one “pay as you go” variable that is challenging to plan and tends to be rather expensive. Opting for included breakfasts and on-site kitchen allows for skipping a restaurant which, with a family of four, can be upwards of $100 each visit. This goes doubly for a touristy location like Disney World and not-so-less-so surrounding Orlando.
The problem here is that, likewise, touristy Orlando has few inexpensive hotels or Airbnbs (and hostels are not an option for this trip). When you include “resort fees” for Orlando based hotels and “cleaning fees” for Orlando based Airbnbs, you are looking at around $200/night on average.
Walt Disney World Resort
I hear you, already: “Stay AT Disney?? Have you gone MAD, man?” Yes, while Disney has luxury resorts that cost upwards of $1000/night, did you know that they also have Value Resorts that will cost you just over $100/night? That’s right, Disney All Star Resorts (All Star Movies and All Star Music) as well as Disney’s Art of Animation Resort all come in near or under other most other hotels in the area. In addition to that, the Resorts at Disney World all have additional benefits for guests including; early entry into the parks, free (and in some cases, great) transportation directly to the park gates, discounted ticket bundler, digital check in, and the telltale “Magic of Disney” resort-wide with awesome pools and kid activities.
For my money, the best value you can find is a full tier up from the value stays listed above. The Cabins at Disney’s Fort Wilderness are my pick for “Best Place To Stay on a Family Trip to Disney World”. For starters, the cabins are only a bit more pricey than the Art of Animation. At the time of writing this, I was able to book 2 nights at the cabins with 3-day Park Passes for four people (all with Park Hopper option, which we will get into in a bit). The total was $2600. A quick check on Disney’s website shows that (4x) 3 day Park Hopper Passes alone would be $2084. A difference of $516 (0r $258/night). Granted $258/night is a bit higher than the low average of hotels in the area, but with that price we get:
1. Digital Check-In from the Disney App
We are able to check in, on my phone, from the parks).
2. Early Admission (30 minutes) to all parks
Crucial for rope drop strategies of maximizing your day at the parks (more below)
3. Boat transportation directly to the gates of Magic Kingdom
11 min boat ride directly to Mickey’s doorstep. For starters, this is pure magic for children. The added benefit being, that at 11 minutes, it is an easy sell to take a mid day, poolside break from the crowds, leaving plenty of time for a recharged return.
4. Discounted Magic Bands.
A great addition to use swipe-to-enter at the parks and as a room key at the resort. They also allow you to add a credit card to make purchase from the bands.
5. Resort amenities like awesome pool areas, great dining and a nightly “movie under the stars/bonfire/s’mores” event.
Great if you find yourself with extra “non-park” time.
6. (and maybe most important) A FULL KITCHEN
See: above. The amount of savings you can accomplish here, just by choosing to cook breakfasts and dinners is potentially astronomical.
Quite frankly, the full kitchen and early park entry are essentials for maximizing value. The kitchen is obvious. Groceries cost (literally) 10x less than area restaurants and food. Carry some granola bars and energy snacks in the parks and you will save boatloads avoiding $10 turkey legs and ice cream bars. As far as Early Entry goes, while it may just sound like a light benefit – 30 minutes of extra time in the parks (combined with some of the strategies below) can be the difference between hitting 7 or 14 rides in a day. That is a big difference.
Park Passes
If you peruse Walt Disney World’s website and try to buy park passes, you will quickly see how confusing it gets. Single Day vs. Multi Day, Multi Park, Park Hopper, Genie and Genie +…What does it all mean and which should you choose? One of the first things you will notice, is that multi-day passes are typically less expensive (per day) than single day passes.
How Many Days?
For a family of four, I would recommend (at least) 3 days of park time. With the right options and a solid plan, 3 days should be sufficient time to get your full experience in. If you would like to be a bit slower and really drink everything in – maybe 5 days.
Park Hopper or Single Park?
Park Hopper allows you to visit multiple parks in one day (must be reserved at one park, and can hop to any other park after 2pm local time). You can probably avoid the option if you are opting for 4 full days in the parks (and definitely, if you are spending 5+ days).
We are a fast lot, my family and I. I also know the parks like the back of my hand. For us, a 3-day pass, with park hopper option, is a perfect amount of time for us to really experience all we need to experience, and avoid serious burnout. I would recommend park hopper option for anything below 4 days.
Genie/Genie +
Disney’s Genie System is a bit controversial. It functions as a new evolution of “fast pass” systems that you may already be familiar with. In the case of Genie, however, you add attractions to your in-app itinerary, and the system gives you a return time to bypass the stand-by queue. You are only allowed 1 attraction at a time, and with return times well into your day, will only really be able to queue 2 (maybe 3) rides per day. At $16/day per person, you’re looking at about $200 all in (for basic)…is it worth it for 2 shortened queues? The answer is maybe.
If you play it right, and queue the right rides, Genie can significantly improve your wait times. That being said, there are limited spots for queuing and people have expressed frustrations in certain rides being unavailable by the time they tried to set it up (as early as 7am the morning of). There have also been reports of the system, overall, being confusing and a hassle.
My recommendation is that with a bit of planning and forethought, you can create a pretty solid day, without the use of Genie. I would not pay the money for the possibility of speeding through only 2 rides. On top of which, return times will dictate how you navigate the park, which can actually hurt your day if you know your way around.
What To Eat
I will focus on some in-park foods that are worth it vs. those that are not in part 2 to this, but overall, this is pretty easy. If you have been reading up until this point, you know my theme. Avoid restaurants and snack vendors – especially those in the parks or tourist spots outside the parks. If you want to hit a Disney Restaurant for the experience, then do some research and find one that fits what you are looking for and that is all. Try and opt for a hotel or Airbnb with a kitchen of breakfast included. You will save hundreds of dollars, conservatively. On top of that, there are a LOT of duds, as far as quality goes.
Refillable Popcorn Buckets
OK, remember when I said to avoid snack vendors. This is the one exception. If you are a fan of popcorn, and it can help to sustain you as you walk miles in the Orlando sun, this is a no-brainer (especially for multi-day visits). The Refillable Popcorn Buckets sold around the park will cost you $10.00 to $25.00 (dependent on design), however…Popcorn refills (throughout your entire stay) are a mere $1-2 each. This can be a fantastic money saver when compared to all other snacks that start around the $10 region.
Planning Your Trip
Once you have your tickets decided on, and purchased, there are a few things you have to take care of, and some more that you should definitely think about doing.
Park Reservations (REQUIRED)
Disney World is on a Park Reservation system. What this means is that buying tickets alone will not get you into the parks. Once you have your passes collected, you will need to reserve which park you intend to visit on which days. NOTE: This is mandatory, and you will be unable to get into the park if you have not reserved it. It is very simple to do, just log into mydisneyexperience.com and click on “Theme Park Reservations” under Parks and Tickets and you can reserve dates from there.
An important thing to note is (supposedly) some dates fill up. I have yet to see this happen, but you may want to check available dates PRIOR to purchasing tickets. Another thing to note is that on multi-park tickets (Park Hopper) you will still need to reserve the park that you will start at for any given day. You will be locked into that starting point and at 2pm EST, you will be able to then enter any other park.
Know the Parks
We have actually had a lot of fun with this over the last few weeks since we booked. I grew up with many family trips to Disney World, and even lived in Orlando for a spell, so I am very familiar with the layout of the parks. My kids are not. To vent off some of the excitement they have been experiencing for the imminent trip, they have each been logging into the My Disney Experience app and checking line times at various times of various days, formulating a plan of attack (yes they are definitely my kids). Check Maps for locations, check the app for typical wait times and know what you want to definitely partake in. If you can get 2-3 big ones in early in the morning, the rest of your day is smooth sailing.
Packing For The Occasion
Packing correctly is integral to making the most out of your day at the park. Forgetting things like an SD card or poncho can be paradigm shifting for that entire day.
- Comfortable Walking Shoes – Hiking shoes are good, tennis shoes or pavement shoes are better.
- Daypack – Disney World allows backpacks, so bring one. Not only can it be handy for taking on layers that your kids may shed, but also holding essentials like water bottles and snacks.
- Snacks – Disney World ALLOWS you to bring snacks. A fistful of granola bars or energy bars can make the difference between enjoying the park or spending a lot of time and money on buying snacks
- Ponchos – buy these ahead of time and bring them with you. Orlando weather can be funny, and you do not want to pay for them in the park.
- Hats – protect ya neck
- Sunscreen – for obvious reasons
- Water – bring a few water bottles to refill throughout the day
- Mouse Ears – I will go into this a bit, but mouse ears are definitely a “bring” vs. a “buy”
Souvenirs
When I was a kid, my mother would have us all put on the Mickey and Minnie ears that were sold in Disney World stores, have our pictures taken wearing them, then put them back and be on our way. They were too expensive then (30+ years ago), they are DEFINITELY too expensive now. Think your souveniring out a bit ahead of time to be burdened with overpriced t-shirts and hats that you could certainly find elsewhere for half the price. Bring the mouse ears and Seven Dwarves Tee with you, they are cheaper on amazon. The Refillable Popcorn Bucket mentioned about in What To Eat, makes for an excellent souvenir with dual purpose.
As I have gotten older, my go-to souvenir has become pressed pennies. They are cheap, easy to carry, design specific and make for a great reminder of trips you have gone on. We keep them in a jar on the mantle and every ounce in a while, reach in and grab one blindly to reminisce. Oh…and they are EVERYWHERE. Disney World is no exception.
Final Thoughts
As you can see, with a little bit of planning, it is possible to adequately plan ahead and build a Disney World itinerary on a budget. Whether or not that budget works for you is a personal call, but I do suggest reading our article on the benefits of investing in experiences vs. material things. Particularly for families, Walt Disney World Resort is a pretty once-in-a-lifetime experience. Please make sure to keep an eye out for the follow up to this article, focused on how to manage your days in real time while at the parks, as well as some live “do vs. skip” scenarios brought to you from our trip to Orlando in January.
I hope this guide helps a bit, please feel free to comment below with your favorite methods of “hacking” Disney World or some of your favorite experiences, and remember to join our Facebook Group and Community Forums for live discussion on your favorite travel topics and destinations.
Safe Travels!
