Disney World On A Budget Tips
A Walt Disney World vacation doesn’t have to be expensive. Follow our Disney World on a budget tips to save money and have a great trip for less money! Use these suggestions in conjunction with our Disney Tips & Tricks posts in order to do “Disney on a Dime” and have a great vacation!
When it comes to planning, here are the five biggest areas where you can save on your trip to Walt Disney World, and our suggestions for how to cut costs in each area. You’ll save so much with these tips that you’ll feel like you just got back from Appliance Direct, not Walt Disney World! 😉
1. Travel Package Discounts – The “Magic Your Way” Vacation Package is a common first-time visitor pitfalls. Walt Disney World carefully markets this package to give guests the impression that they’re saving money, when in actuality, they aren’t. Quite simply, this package is Disney’s way of bundling hotel, tickets, and the Disney Dining Plan together.
The Magic Your Way vacation packages are usually worse deals than you can get if buying each component individually included in the package individually. Although you will receive certain extras for booking a Magic Your Way vacation package, these extras are not things that most guests will use.
Here are some other ways to save on your Walt Disney World vacation…
However, there are some actual discounts you can find on DisneyWorld.com (depending upon season and availability) that will save you money. These packages can be complex and difficult for the uninitiated to understand, but we break it down in our Walt Disney World Discounts Comparison post.
If you’re having trouble with this, I highly recommend contacting a fee-free, Authorized Disney Vacation Planner (i.e., travel agent) to assist you. I know what you might be thinking: “Travel agent?! I’m trying to save money here–remember that I’m on a budget! I’m not rolling in dough like John Stamos!”
There is this misconception that travel agents make Disney trips more expensive. Couldn’t be further from the truth, as long as you book with a fee-free agency. Fee free means that you don’t pay them, Disney pays them a commission. They can find the best discounts for your circumstances, and even assist you with advance dining reservations and other planning. If it’s your first trip, contacting a fee-free travel agent is a no brainer.
One thing travel agents can’t help with is PIN codes. PIN Codes are the holy grail of Walt Disney World discounts. They are an exclusive discount sent to a limited number of recipients that frequently allow offer a greater discount than promotions offered to the general public. PIN codes are shrouded in mystery, but I’ve written in the past about how you can increase your chances of receiving one.
The most important thing to remember about these package deals is that they’re only a deal if what’s offered appeals to you. You shouldn’t book a Deluxe Resort because it’s 40% off versus a Value Resort at 25% just because of the “better” savings.
You also should not take advantage of the free Disney Dining Plan promotion if saving money is your biggest goal and you’d just as soon prepare your own meals at your hotel. (On the other hand, if your family loves to eat at Walt Disney World restaurants, Free Dining can be a great deal.) If you do book a package discount, it obviates the need to concern yourself with some other items on this list, but you should read this list in full before booking anything.
2. Hotel – This is tricky. You can undoubtedly save the most money by staying at a hotel that is off Disney property. Even the cheapest Disney hotels (the Values) are over $100 per night after discounts.
Another option besides taking advantage of a discount direct from Disney is renting Disney Vacation Club points (see our Tips for Renting Disney Vacation Club Points post for more info) from a third party and staying in a Disney Vacation Club resort.
This isn’t an ultimate “on a budget” tip, as you’re still looking at paying a minimum of around $150 per night, but it gives you great accommodations and Disney perks at a great savings. So consider it a “frugal person” tip to save more money instead of an “on a budget” tip.
Alternatively, an off-site hotel that offers comparable amenities to a Value but is located off property might be as cheap as $40 a night. The problem with staying off site is that you don’t have the advantage of Disney’s (complimentary) Magic Express shuttle from the airport to your hotel, nor do you (usually) have free transportation to the parks from your hotel. So you need a rental car if staying off property whereas you don’t necessarily need one if staying on Walt Disney World property.
Even after the cost of the rental car (we use Hotwire’s “Hot Rate” finder to score rental cars for $10-15/day a lot of places), you probably would come out ahead by staying off property from a budgetary perspective, but Disney offers other perks, like Extra Magic Hours and the ability to purchase the Disney Dining Plan, to those staying on property.
Plus, Disney-owned hotels have Disney themed and offer a nice escape from the real world. If you’re going to stay off property, using a “blind” purchase through Hotwire or Priceline can save the most money. You won’t know exactly which hotel you’re getting, but you will get a far, far better deal this way and can still ensure the hotel is in the area you want.
There are regularly hotels in the Disney Springs Area and the Swan & Dolphin on sites that offer deals, often at really great prices. The caveat to this is that you often have to wait until the last minute. If you’re fine with that (and will have a rental car for your Walt Disney World trip), waiting might not be a good strategy. The downside to this, especially during busier seasons, is that there might not be last minute availability (as such, it’s always good to book a free cancellation rate elsewhere in advance to hedge your bets).
Ultimately, if money is your absolute and only consideration, stay off property. If cost is important, but there are other considerations, I strongly recommend staying on property. If you do decide to stay on property and you’re on a budget, the next question is whether you should do a Value Resort or a Moderate Resort. Typically, if money is an issue, we recommend a Value Resort.
Everyone’s circumstances are different, and staying on property isn’t “necessary” for everyone. You should weigh all factors accordingly and do what’s right for you. There are a lot of great off-property hotels and vacation homes, so don’t have trepidation about going off property. If you do stay off property and rent a car, you’ll have the secondary benefit of being able to eat off-site or going to a grocery store to pick up food when you arrive in Florida, thus saving you even more money!
3. Tickets – If you purchase a vacation package, this is not something about which you need to worry. If you don’t buy a package, consider purchasing your tickets in advance and from an authorized third party vendor instead of Disney. These third party vendors offer savings of about 5-20% off Disney prices (sometimes more, sometimes less). Not a huge savings, but every little bit helps when you’re visiting Disney on a budget, right?
Determine which tickets will save your party the most money with our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Even if you don’t purchase from the authorized vendors we recommend in that post, what you don’t want to do is buy the “cheap” tickets you see advertised along the roadside on your way to Walt Disney World nor do you want to buy via eBay. Those are scams.
Since we also often visited when Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party or Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party was taking place, we would save days on our park tickets by having breakfast or lunch in a resort hotel (or, if it’s Christmas season, the best way to spend the morning before Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party is by doing a FREE self-guided Deluxe Resorts Christmas Tour!) and then heading into the Magic Kingdom at 4 pm once our tickets were valid.
This made for an incredibly entertaining day and nice change of pace, but the REAL benefit was that we didn’t have to use one of our precious park days! It’s easy to have take a 7-day trip to Walt Disney World and only purchase 5-day tickets. There’s a ton of fun stuff to do outside of the theme parks.
If you’re planning on going for more than two weeks on your trip, or once per year (move the second trip up a bit so they’re both within a year), you may want to look into Annual Passes. If it’s a close call as to whether you should get an Annual Pass, sometimes getting one for one person in your party may be a good idea so you can take advantage of other discounts, too.
4. Food – Once you have your tickets and are in the park, it’s time to think about food, assuming you’re not already covered by having the Disney Dining Plan as a part of your vacation package. This is the best way to ‘get creative’ with your savings at Walt Disney World. The easiest way to save money on food is to not purchase food from Disney restaurants. Stop at a grocery store on your way to Walt Disney World, eat at off-site restaurants, or use a grocery delivery service.
Disney also allows guests to bring food to the park (check out our packing list for recommendations), so you can conceivably never purchase food from Disney during your entire trip! We happen to think that Disney’s restaurants can be a fun part of the experience, so we don’t recommend going this route.
If you decide to eat at Disney restaurants, the next question is whether you should add-on the Disney Dining Plan. While you can save a good amount of money (as much as 40% if you maximize your usage of the Plan) by using the Disney Dining, you can also eat at Walt Disney World cheaper by paying out of pocket if you focus on “dining on a dime.”
So whether you should get the Disney Dining Plan is another one of those “personal decisions.” Read our review and overview of the Disney Dining Plan to get more help on that front. If you decide against the Disney Dining Plan, consider the Tables in Wonderland card (if eligible).
If you want to “dine on a dime” at Walt Disney World, here are some specific tips for getting the most for your money at Walt Disney World restaurants:
- Order the 1/2 Chicken and BBQ Rib Combo at Cosmic Ray’s (Magic Kingdom) and split it; it’s more expensive than other meals, but it’s enough food to share.
- Order from the kid’s menu. Portion sizes are smaller, but so is price.
- At Cosmic Ray’s, Pecos Bill (Magic Kingdom), and other restaurants with Toppings Bars, load up with the toppings to make a significantly more filling meal.
- Sunshine Seasons (Epcot), Electric Umbrella (Epcot), Restaurantosaurus (Disney’s Animal Kingdom), Backlot Express (Disney’s Hollywood Studios), and most Disney resort-hotel food court restaurants offer free drink refills. Dine at these restaurants if you really like soda.
- Eat lunch at Table Service restaurants instead of dinner; often the same menus are used, but at lower price-points.
- Order a la carte. Menus typically list “combo” prices. If you don’t want fries (or a side), order just the entree to save.
- Eat at Disney Springs. You tend to get more value for money from these independently-owned restaurants, and the food is exceptional at many of the restaurants.
- Get some free caffeine at Club Cool (Epcot) by trying the beverages of the world. Our favorite is the Beverly! 😉
- Pizzafari (Disney’s Animal Kingdom) and PizzeRizzo (Disney’s Hollywood Studios) offer sizable pizzas for affordable prices.
- The Plaza Restaurant (Magic Kingdom) offers table service food for counter service prices.
- For another cheap(er) table service meal, order the largest pizza at Via Napoli (Epcot) and split it between 3-5 people.
These are just some ways that come to mind that we’ve saved money when dining at Walt Disney World. If you have others, please share them in the comments!
5. Souvenirs – Souvenirs come last on our list much like they do for most people visiting the parks on a budget. The notion that Disney really pushes expensive souvenirs has so permeated our culture that even Disney has gotten in on the act by poking fun at itself for the practice in the script of the Jungle Cruise and on the television show Modern Family.
However, Walt Disney World souvenirs don’t have to be expensive. Our biggest tip for saving money on souvenirs is purchasing Disney pins for Pin Trading on eBay prior to your trip. Not only can you get them cheap ($1-2 pin versus the $8-20 that Disney charges for “normal” pins), but Pin Trading is a blast and will add another layer of fun to your Walt Disney World vacation. For more information about it, check out our Disney Pin Trading tips.
If Pin Trading isn’t your style, there are other ways to save money on souvenirs. If you’re purchasing for kids, the best thing to do is look for clearance deals on Amazon.com’s Disney page or in the clearance section of your local Disney Store. You can then bring these toys with you and give them to your kids on vacation.
Other cheap and fun souvenir options include Vinylmation (be careful, they’re addictive!), magnets, or keychains. Learn from our mistake and don’t spiral into the dangerous and expensive world of Disney collectibles. Disneyana is like crack…except without the life-threatening and illegal aspects. Okay, it’s nothing like crack besides being marginally addictive. Bad example.
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? If you’re interested in learning more about hotels, our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page is a good place to start. For where to eat, try out our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews page. If you want to save money on tickets or determine which type you should get, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at unconventional things you should take on your trip. Once you arrive at the parks, our Walt Disney World “Ride Guides” are great for determining what to do and when to do it. For overviews of all of these topics and so much more, the best place to start is our comprehensive Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide to make the most of your experience!
Your Thoughts…
Are you a frugal traveler? What other tips for saving money at Walt Disney World do you have? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing feedback about your experiences is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
We did a Christmas morning scavenger hunt for our kids with little clues all over the house. The first child read the first clue and had to figure it out. When he found the clue, it had the next child’s name on it and then that child read it out loud and had to figure it out, and so on. We did 20 clues and it took 20 minutes! It was a blast. They were racing around the house, checking in the dryer, the fridge, on the Christmas tree, etc. At the end it lead to a massive box that was wrapped with three nesting wrapped boxes inside. When they finally tore through all the boxes, they found a Disney string bag with a lanyard and wallet inside that held a $50 Disney gift card they can spend in the park. They also each got a small Disney character. I videoed the whole experience and it was awesome to see their little faces light up when we screamed “WE’RE GOING TO DISNEY WORLD!!!” in their faces!!! Have fun, hope this helps. 😉
As a child my family never could go to Disney but wanted to so bad, and now I am all growed (lol) up and can get my parents and my children a vacation everyone will enjoy. As being our first trip, this is helping me find EVERYTHING, literally, everything I need to know. Thank you for taking your time and doing this.
Oh, one question, what would be a good surprise reveal to do for my children and dad (my mom is helping plan trip)? It’s a family Christmas present, I guess you could call it.
One thing that has been fantastic for me and my travel parties has been booking packages through JetBlue! I’m sure other airlines have them too, but JetBlue is just what we prefer to fly. Obviously this only works if you’re flying anyway.
After trying really hard, I wound up getting a pin code that worked for the days I’m traveling this May, but even with that the package from JetBlue winds up being cheaper.
My husband and I are planning to go next year but are debating to stay at a resort or at a cheaper hotel. So it’s either stay at at a Disney resort and have free rides to the park or stay at a cheaper hotel but pay a rental and parking. How expensive is parking and are there discounts? Thank you!
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My 5 tips to add onto Tom’s (sorry if it’s a little long) …
1. Rental Cars and Disney – If you need a rental car while at Disney you can actually pick one up at the Downtown Disney (DTD) area. Avis has a counter across the street from DTD at the Hilton. Dollar Rental has one across the street from DTD at the Wyndham. This is nice to know if you’re coming from somewhere else and need to pick up/drop off a rental car. You can easily take a Disney bus from your resort to DTD and pick up/drop off a car. I would highly RECOMMEND you book this car in advance. So say you want to take the kids to Legoland (about 40 minute drive away) one day. There are buses but they cost a lot more than a car for the day. Just take a bus to DTD, rent a car and spend the day at Legoland, or Universal, food shopping, etc … It generally costs about $20-$40/day (after taxes) for a car. But it’s a simple way to get a car while staying at Disney for only a day or so. AGAIN BOOK IN ADVANCE!
2. Discount packages – Agree with Tom, but do your research. If you book a full package on a place like Expedia and price it separate they almost always come out the same. To me I like to book my Disney, hotel and tickets right from their website because they link your magic bands to all your tickets and hotel BEFORE you get there and mail the bands to you. This way you don’t have to waste valuable time once you get there doing that. Luckily there are so many flights into/out of Orlando that finding cheap air line tickets isn’t hard, but don’t forget there is another airport (Sanford code SFB) that is close. Allegiant Airlines flies into SFB.
3. Hotel – Again Tom is right, but it comes down to preference. I prefer staying on site because I don’t need a car once I’m there between monorails/boats/buses. Disney transportation is fast, safe and run constantly.
As far as where to stay it really depends on your visit schedule. Will you be there 4 days spending 4 days in parks? If so then by all means stay at a VALUE resort (or off site) because outside of sleeping and maybe eating a meal at your hotel you should save your money for the parks.
Now if you’re going to be there a week and only spend 3 days in the parks then you might want to spring for a MODERATE to DELUXE hotel since you’ll be using the hotel a lot more. This is usually what we do since 4 parks in 4 days will KILL most people unless you’re an Olympic athlete! And let’s face it if you’re dragging children along with you (or they’re dragging you) you NEED those days to just sit by the pool and watch them swim.
The pools at all the hotels are great, save and fun but once you go up to MODERATE level you get some nice theme pools that you just won’t get at a VALUE hotel. To me the best middle ground is PORT ORLEANS RIVERSIDE. But again I would base this all on your schedule while at Disney. Why pay a premium for a room you’ll only sleep in! If you plan on being poolside might as well make it a cool themed pool!
4. Tickets – Comes down to preference but Tom is right. If you’re only going to one or two parks then buy them at the gate because you get no discount on anything less then 3 days. But remember if you buy them in advance or at your resort and have them linked to your Magic Band then you can go online ahead of time and set up your fast pass+ instead of doing that AFTER you get into the park. But remember Fast Pass+ is only available to people staying at Disney resorts!
[ONE IMPORTANT NOTE – Special event tickets (i.e. Halloween, Christmas) are sold in a limited quantity. So DO NOT WAIT UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE TO BUY THESE].
5. Food – This is where you can save big. My parents live about 3 hours away near Fort Myers so we fly in and visit them first. We then rent a car from Avis one way and drive to Orlando and check into our hotel. Parking is free at resorts (if you’re staying there) as well as the theme parks. We will then drive off property in the car, food shop and stock our room’s mini frig. We’ll then empty out the car, drive to Downtown Disney for dinner and return the rental car across the street from DTD at the Hilton (they have an Avis counter there it’s code LB3 at Avis’s website). We then spend the night at DTD and take the bus back to our resort. Now you have a stocked frig and no car to pay for or worry about. If you don’t want to rent a car follow Tom’s advice and have food delivered to your room. A car costs about $20-$40/day. BUT BOOK IN ADVANCE.
FOOD TIPS …
BREAKFAST:
We find that breakfast is usually something you can grab quickly since you might be up early to get into a park right as it opens. Bagels or pop-tarts are great and your resort will always have a toaster available for use and there will probably be cream cheese there as well. Coffee can be purchased at your resort (see DRINKS below for more tips).
LUNCH:
We often buy lunch meat, bread and mini chips bags while food shopping. This is the fastest way to make lunch at the resort or to carry to the park. PB&J is cheap as well.
DINNER:
This is usually the meal we splurge on. Whether it be at our resort, a park or a character dinner it’s nice to just order this meal. But again if you food shopped and don’t mind eating lunch meat again (or peanut butter) have at it!
DRINKS:
You can either buy soda/coffee daily or buy a Disney resort mug for your stay which will give you unlimited beverages at your resort (not the parks).
One tip we noticed is that people will often leave cups on trash cans as they check out with days still left on them. If you can stomach using someone’s used mug (after cleaning it in boiling hot water of course) it’s a free way of getting drinks at your resort. (Our last 4 visits we’ve found four mugs with over a week left on them!)
Another way we get drinks is by bringing some 20oz plastic bottles (think blender bottles) and packets of ice tea, lemonade, etc. Water (and usually ice at fountain drink stations) is free at resorts and parks so we simply fill these bottles, add our mix and shake. We almost never buy soda/ice tea/drinks at the parks. Huge rip off. We just bring our bottle and make our own.
Hope these tips help and have a Magical Day (yes I just did).
Great Tips, Thanks for Sharing.
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Using a travel agent that specializes in Disney can help save money and get your moneys worth out of the trip. The link below is the facebook page of one I highly recommend. She knows the parks, and watches sales as they are released and if any will save you money see will get them applied to your reservation. Best part is using her services costs you NOTHING. The trip is the same price whether booked direct with Disney or through her.
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We also buy Disney apparel at Kohl’s and Wal-mart prior to going. You feel more Disney-fied when wearing a Mickey shirt while strolling Main St. I just got 2 kids shirts and 2 adult shirts for under $20.00 total. We also look for candy with a Disney theme. Recently at the local movie store we came across small packs of Frozen Themed and Star Wars Themed Jelly Belly jelly beans. Perfect!
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Go to disney during September January. And early December to save money on the fee of going to disney
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One thing we did last year in our first Disney trip was buy souvenirs at Walmart instead of WDW. It was so much cheaper and we bought for multiple family members!