How to Save Money at Disney
Let's face it, a Disney vacation is expensive and everyone knows it. So much so that often people think they can't afford a trip to the most magical place on Earth.
But with some planning, Disney can be within your reach. Here are some tips or how to plan a less expensive Disney vacation.
Saving on Staying
Travel during the value season (or really anything but the Peak season)
Disney classifies times during the year into several seasons which correspond to pricing. Peak is going to be your most expensive season and it's when most people travel because it correlates to when school is out. Peak includes summer, holidays, spring break, etc.
Value season on the other hand is the least expensive time to visit Disney. Usually this is a time of year when not much is happening, like January into early February, or fall when kids are back in school. Sometimes parks have reduced hours during value season or rides are under refurbishment, but you may not even notice because Disney is always Disney. And if you time it right, the weather in Florida can be quite mild during value season.
Stay at Value Resorts
Disney classifies resorts into the categories of Deluxe, Moderate, and Value. Value resorts are still quite nice resorts on Disney property which allow you all of the benefits of staying on property. They might not have a table service restaurant or a hot tub on site, but they will serve just fine.
Really REALLY want to stay at a moderate? Consider splitting your stay between a value resort and a moderate resort to save a little bit and still get the experience.
Check Disneyworld.disney.go.com for promotions and take advantage
Disney often will have a promotion that might save you money. Check their website for when there are offers and what the details are. Also, do the math. Sometimes promotions are tiered so you may save, say 10% at a value resort, but 20% at a moderate. Depending on the length of your stay and what resort you've chosen, a moderate resort can sometimes shake out to be less expensive than a value, so do the math during promotions to find the least expensive option.
Saving on Dining
Choose Quick Service
Quick Service is Disney-speak for fast food, but fast food can range quite a bit from McDonalds-esque to more like Panera Bread. The image above is a dessert at Satuli Canteen, a quick service dining place you were you can get "pods" (dumplings), bowls you design, and gorgeous desserts.
I want to be clear that quick service is often not synonymous with "unhealthy". Disney has made great progress in having healthy options at many quick service dining locations. Places like Sunshine Seasons at EPCOT and Satuli Canteen at Disney's Animal Kingdom have plenty of interesting menu options and fresh vegetables to go around. Wherever you plan to dine, your quick service restaurants are going to be a great deal less expensive than table service, which is a sit-down type meal... but...
If you choose to dine Table Service, consider lunch instead of dinner
The menu is often similar if not the same, but lunch prices tend to be lower than dinner prices at table service restaurants. Aside, lunch is great because it gets you out of the heat at the height of the day and fuels your afternoon adventures.
Also, if you are eyeing a character meal, the breakfast seating (when given the option) is usually the less expensive option. This can be expensive but well worth it at places like Chef Mickey's.
Split your meal
Disney portion sizes are, for the most part, huge. Especially at quick service locations. Consider splitting food among members of your party. Flame Tree Barbecue is an example of a place where this works well. Their barbecue sampler is huge and is enough to feed two hungry adults.
B.Y.O.B.
That's right! Bring your own breakfast! (Oh, that's not what you thought I meant? Well, you can bring your own THAT too). Have granola bars, fruit, muffins, whatever you could get from the grocery store or travel with in your room for a quick bite for breakfast. SO much faster than going somewhere to eat first thing in the morning, and a lot less expensive.
If you're flying in and relying on Disney transportation, no worries! Garden Grocer delivers to Disney resorts. Just order ahead online and tell them when you are checking in to your resort. They will deliver the food to bell services and bell services will store it and give you a call when it arrives.
So about that OTHER "B"...
That's a great thing to stock up on through a grocery store or Garden Grocer delivery as well. A drink at Disney is easily $10 and often more. But keep your favorite adult beverages in your room, and you are set for a fraction of the cost.
Buy the resort reusable mug
The only time I would not recommend this is if your family does not drink soda, coffee, or hot chocolate. If you do, the resort reusable mug is usually a good deal. It can seem expensive up front, but 3-5 sodas later, it's a no-brainer. Also, it's a great souvenir.
Once you have your reusable mug, use it. You can refill your mug once every 5 minutes or so (to prevent people filling big coolers with soda all at once, I guess). It is only good at your resort, but that's where you spend a lot of your resting time. Also, there is no law against filling it and then taking your drink into the park (you just can't refill in the park).
The dining plan is not always a savings
Disney offers dining packages that you can purchase ahead of time which then entitle you to an allotment of meals and snacks throughout your stay. Before purchasing this, consider what your family actually eats and whether it's a savings. The last time I had the dining plan, I was allotted one quick-service, one snack, and one table service a day, which may not sound like much in theory, but with Disney portion sizes, I was practically rolling out of restaurants at the end of my day. It was more food than I would normally eat. Weigh what is included in the dining plan against what you would eat and consider whether it's a savings. For many, it is not.
Be careful with free dining
Sometimes Disney will offer a "free dining" special offer, meaning if you stay at a Walt Disney World resort during certain dates, a dining plan is included at no extra cost. It is never a guarantee that this will be offered, but if it is, this is something you may want to look into. I have done it during the International Food & Wine Festival and we had a great time using our "snack credits" on the different food booths set up in World Showcase for the Festival - something we may not have done had we not known it was already paid for.
But there is a catch. Free dining is often offered during a non-peak season which means there may be a room discount. To get free dining, you pay the "rack rate" for the room - that is, the full price. You may not enjoy other room discounts and also get free dining. Again, you may want to do the math and calculate what you anticipate your family would spend on dining and your stay with a discount, and then calculate the stay at rack rate without spending on dining.
Also for the two tips above, be aware that certain things are not included in free dining, specifically alcohol.
Saving on Tickets/Park Admission
Consider whether you need to access the park EVERY DAY
I can almost hear the grumbles right now. Why would you go to Walt Disney World and not go to Walt Disney World?Well, first, Walt Disney World is a big place and has a lot more to offer than just the four theme parks.
The point I'm making here is why pay park admission for a day when you will hardly be in the park, if at all. These days where a full day's admission might not make sense include your arrival and departure days when you would only be in the park for a fraction of the day but still pay full cost.
There is a lot to do on Disney property that doesn't involve admission into a park. There's shopping at Disney Springs, your resort's pool, riding the monorail, riding Disney transportation boats (I especially like the cruise up the Sassagoula river, of course!), and resort hopping. You can easily fill time on arrival and departure days doing those things.
You may also wish to plan a "down day" in the middle of your vacation. Say you'll be at Disney for 8 days and 7 nights, but day 1 and day 8 are arrival/departure days, and maybe on day 4 your family needs a little break from the park and wants to hang out at the pool. This is fine. Buy a 5 day ticket (covering days 2, 3, 5, 6, and 7) and you've just stretched your 8 day vacation on less money.
Go with the base ticket
Disney has several ticket structures, but the base ticket is the most basic and least expensive. It gets you into ONE park per day, but you can leave and re-enter that same park throughout the day as you wish. This means you can go to Magic Kingdom in the morning, leave for a rest at your resort in the afternoon, and return to Magic Kingdom in the afternoon.
Other than how many different parks you can enter in a day, once in the park, your experience on the base ticket is the same as that of those who bought more expensive tickets. All rides and entertainment in the park are included and you get the same number of FastPass + reservations as those with Park Hoppers or Park Hopper Plus tickets.
Going up in price from this is the Park Hopper which allows you to hop between all of the theme parks in the course of one day. And then there is the Park Hopper Plus which adds admission to water parks (I never have time for this when I'm at Disney!).
Confession: My family are park hoppers. We've always always bought the park hopper and hopped parks. We like the flexibility. We like the ability to decide that we aren't digging the crowd levels at one park in the morning and choose not to return. But on my last vacation, I did begin to consider that a base ticket would be sort of nice. You could commit to a park all day. This makes FastPass+ a little easier to plan and use and can also cut down on your transportation time. After your afternoon break, you can pick up where you left off. To me this doesn't seem like it would be a terrible thing anymore.
Saving on Souvenirs
Buy Disney gift cards on discount
Disney gift cards can be used at retail locations in the Disney parks, and you can often get Disney gift cards at a discount at places like Target or Walgreens. For example, you might have a 5% discount at Target using your Target Red Card. Target sells Disney gift cards, and the discount applies, so your $100 in Disney spending money may cost you $95. Watch for situations where you can get these gift cards at a discount and save them for spending money in the parks.
For younger children - buy Disney-themed gifts ahead of time to surprise them on vacation
Yes, I am suggesting tricking the younger children. A bit. Just a little bit.
So, the situation here is that children are going to see things they want in the parks if they haven't had a new toy in a little while. But merchandise in the parks can be so expensive. So parents have found ways to stock up on Disney-themed gifts ahead of time outside of the parks. They dole out one of these to the littles each morning and the theory is the child will be satisfied. And because they received it on vacation, it kinda sorta is a souvenir. At least to them it is.
For older children - set a budget
You most definitely need to set a spending limit for each child at the beginning of the vacation and stick to it. The easiest way to do this is, once again, our favorite Disney gift card. You can advise other gift-giving relatives that this is what your child should get for their birthdays and Christmas before you go on vacation.
These are great because when they are out, they are out. Knowing that they have a definite limit will help your kids make better decisions about whether they really need that toy or that hat in the parks. Also, they might really enjoy shopping with their own money and having the ability to make their own decisions.
I hope that I've shown you several ways you can save money on staying, dining, tickets, and souvenirs at Walt Disney World and maybe put that dream of visiting a little bit more within your reach.
Do you have other suggestions on how to save money on a Disney Vacation? Comment below!
